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ARCANA   OF    CHRISTIANITT 


I 


^ratw  nf  Cljnstianitg: 


UNFOLDING  OF  THE  CELESTIAL  SENSE 
OF  THE  DIVINE  WORD, 


THOMAS     LAKE     HARRIS. 


PART    III.— THE    APOCALYPSE 
VOL.    I. 


"Tii.^,T:me  is  ai  H-ii.^.'' 


i^eto  ^ork  ^  iL0nli0n : 

BKOTHEEHOOD    OF    THE    NEW    LIEE. 

1867. 


J. 


"^SlW 


f4hf 


3 


^    ■ 


SPECIAL    NOTICE. 

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ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER    I. 


Celestial  sense  of  the  word  "  Revelation." — A  new  organic  creation  from 
the  humanity  of  the  Lord. — This  organic  creation  known,  received,  and 
descending  through  the  Heavens. — Threefold  revelations  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  in  each  Heaven. — Typal  forms  of  Divine  attributes. — That  new 
creation  a  new  harmony  of  the  universe. — First  and  second  illustra- 
tions.— Men  who  receive  the  new  creation  called,  "  Brethren  of  the 
New  Life." — Divine  respiration,  simple,  composite,  and  coronal,  im- 
parted to  them. — The  Seven  Churches,  seven  types  of  open-respiring 
men. — Seven-fold  perceptions  of  men  in  the  new  creation. — Revelations 
of  our  Lord  in  the  new  creation. — Third  illustration. — Attributal  men  : 
their  species  and  use.  Fourth  illustration. — The  new  social  order 
established  through  attributal  men. 

1.  The  apostle  Jolin  did  not  possess  tlie  gift  of  opened  in- 
ternal respiration  ;  neither  did  any  of  the  apostles.  The  con- 
dition into  which  the  beloved  disciple  was  intromitted,  for  the 
purpose  of  being  made  the  instrument  of  communicating  this 
concluding  portion  of  the  record  of  the  Divine  Word  to  man^ 
was  one  of  utter  rest :  the  body  slept ;  the  natural  senses 
reposed  in  entire  quiescence.  A  former  beloved  inhabitant 
of  the  eartlij  whose  departure  from  the  terrestrial  world  had 
been  unaccompanied  by  the  usual  phenomena  of  physical  dis- 
solution, entered  into  conjunction  with  his  spirit,  which  arose 
into  the  Celestial  Heaven. 

2.  It  was  in  the  Celestial  Heaven  that  the  Apocalypse  was 
communicated,  as  to  his  spirit,  to  John.  It  contains,  as  do  all 
other  books  of  the  Word,  three  divine  senses  within  the  letter, 
which  severally  are  related  to  each  other,  as  are  the  three 
Heavens,  celestial,  spiritual,  and  ultimate.     No  generation  of 


8  ARGANA   OF  CRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

tlie  human  race  will  ever  be  able  to  exliaust  tlieir  contents. 
New  and  more  amply  qualified  interpreters^  permitted  to  enter 
into  their  sublime  recesses,  will  bring  forth  from  them  treasm*es 
of  wisdom  and  of  knowledge,  more  brilliant  and  more  copious. 
There  are  single  phrases  in  the  Word,  each  of  which  contains, 
in  the  least  degree  of  its  internal  senses,  far  more  than  the 
most  gifted  natural  intellect  is  enabled  to  peruse  in  the  full 
letter  of  Eevelation. 

3.  The  objection  of  the  natural  reasoner  to  statements 
like  'the  foregoing  is  as  follows  : — '^  The  copies  of  Scripture 
exhibit  a  various  reading;  moreover,  as  no  students  of  any 
language  attach,  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  precisely  the  same 
shade  of  meaning  to  the  most  significant  words ;  and  as, 
moreover,  the  precise  significance  attached  to  important 
phrases,  by  the  writers  themselves,  is'  unknown,  therefore  it  is 
impossible  to  maintain,  by  any  valid  evidence,  that  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  we  possess  them,  stand  in  their  entirety  as  a  verbal 
inspiration.  We  should  require  to  maintain  this,  first,  infallible 
proof  of  the  mechanical  accuracy  of  the  inspired  man,  in 
transcribing  to  the  minutest  point  of  punctuation,  so  that  each 
sentence  stands  as  the  script  of  Almighty  God.  We  should 
require,  second,  the  same  proof  that  every  successive  copy 
from  the  original  had  been  reproduced  with  the  same  accuracy. 
And  third,  that,  to  the  minutest  of  shades,  every  meaning  of 
the  original  had  been  preserved  and  reproduced  in  our  version." 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  evidence  is  not  attainable. 
"  Therefore,"  it  is  continued,  "  by  the  failure  of  an  unbroken 
and  infallible  letter,  the  superstructure  of  a  higher  sense  fails 
entirely." 

4.  How  then  is  it  that  the  revelation  of  Scripture  is  the 
Word,  and  the  revelation  of  its  symbolisms  the  unfolding  of 
an  internal,  a  spiritual  or  celestial,  a  superior  and  archetypal 
sense,  from  the  Word  ?  The  answering  of  this  would  require 
the  opening  of  profound  mysteries ;  but,  for  the  present,  the 
following  hints  must  suffice.  Ten  different  readings  of  the  same 
Greek  or  Hebrew  text,  each  containing  a  separate  modifica- 
tion of  language,  yet  each  embodying,  with  relative  accuracy, 
the  primitive  letter ;  or,  to  alter  the  case,  some  of  them  in  a 
degree  defective,  may  be  all  open  to  a  servant  of  the  Lord, 


SEC.  3—6.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  9 

qualified  to  expound  their  internal  significance.  The  contra- 
dictory, or  variously  shaded  readings,  perplex  him,  only  so 
long  as  the  spiritual  eyes  are  closed ;  only  so  long  as  he  feels, 
sees,  and  takes  cognisance  merely  of  the  natural  meanings  and 
variations  of  meaning,  which  might  be  inferred  from  the  letter ; 
only,  in  fine,  as  he  is  mentally  in  the  darkness  and  bondage  of 
the  letter.  This  perplexity  ends  when  he  is  taken  up  into  the 
illumination  and  freedom  of  the  Spirit. 

5.  The  Holy  Scripture  contains  the  Word,  as  the  body  of  a 
man  contains  that  archetypal  image  and  likeness  of  the  Divine  • 
Truth  from  which  it  was  unfolded.  The  nails  may  be  defective, 
a  limb  may  have  been  amputated,  the  flesh  may  be  bruised,  the 
skin  in  parts  abraded,  till  the  frame  is  a  mere  torso ;  but 
within  the  frame  is  the  man-image,  with  not  a  member  impaired 
or  a  feature  obliterated.  Thus  it  is  with  Holy  Scripture.  The 
archetype  of  the  Word,  of  which  the  verbal  revelation  was  the 
out-growth,  and  of  which  also  it  is  the  expression,  is  within  it, 
as  the  archetype  of  man  is  within  the  image  of  man.  Now  as 
the  qualified  seer  of  man,  though  the  hand  were  bruised, 
maimed,  or  but  visible  through  bandages,  would  yet  behold 
the  archetypal  image  of  the  hand,  perfect  in  the  shape,  and 
continuity,  and  use  of  all  its  members;  so  the  seer  of  the 
Word,  within  any  scriptural  book,  any  organ  of  the  body  of 
revelation,  perceives  those  archetypal  ideas  which  were  pro- 
jected from  the  Infinite  Consciousness,  and  by  the  descent  of 
which,  toward  the  original  seer  or  writer  of  them,  they  were 
first  communicated  to  man.  Though  the  Scriptures  were  far 
more  veiled  than  at  present,  and  the  letter  of  them  almost  ob- 
literated ;  though  they  stood  in  fragments,  like  the  ruins  of  the 
Parthenon,  that  mental  and  verbal  artist,  whom  the  Lord  might 
qualify,  would  rise,  through  the  contemplation  of  those  ruins,  to 
the  conception  of  their  original  design.  Thus,  through  the  wear 
and  change  of  ages,  the  Word  endures,  and  shall  endure,  be- 
cause it  is  a  temple  of  God,  eternal  in  the  heavens ;  and  whoso 
would  describe  that  temple  is  not  dependent  solely  upon  that 
representation  of  it,  which  has  been  wi^ought  out  in  verbal  stone. 

6.  In  treating  of  the  celestial  sense  of  the  Apocalypse,  the 
task  has  been  easy,  so  far  as  the  letter  has  been  concerned, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  of  various  readings  and  interpreta- 


10  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

tions.  I  liave  seen  tliat  Temple  of  Harmony^  the  glorious 
image  of  wliicli  was  let  down  into  the  mind  of  John.  So  far 
as  it  has  been  possible  and  lawful^  I  have  described  it ;  and  if 
my  readers  will  seek  to  attain  to  the  state  of  utter  receptivity 
of  the  divine  life,  and  of  complete  obedience  to  its  law,,  of  which 
the  character  of  John  affords  so  beautiful  a  symbol,  they  will 
not  have  occasion  to  ask,  whether,  if  the  writer  had  followed 
at  any  point  a  different  reading,  he  would  have  evolved  a  dif- 
ferent significance  ?  In  the  fallen  cone  of  the  pine-tree  the 
spiritual  mind  may  discover,  not  alone  the  natural  form,  but 
the  living  germ ;  and  again,  through  that,  discern,  by  life- 
inflowing,  the  Pine  of  pines,  the  celestial  tree,  on  whose 
branches  are  the  birds,  and  in  whose  leaves  the  winds  of 
Heaven.  If  he  tramples  that  cone  under  foot,  it  may  perish 
from  his  use ;  but  if  he  plants  and  tends  it,  his  old  age  may 
be  shadowed  by  its  foliage  ; — and  the  jDine-tree  is  the  Word. 

Chap.  i.  1. — ''''The  Eevelation  op  Jesus  Christ,   which  God 
GAVE  UNTO  Him,  to  show  unto  His  servants  things  which 

MUST  shortly    come   TO   PASS  ;    AND    He    SENT    AND    SIGNIFIED 

IT  BY  His  Angel  unto  His  servant  John." 

7.  In  the  "revelation "-symbol,  is  signified,  in  this  verse,  a 
new  organic  creation.  By  "of  Jesus  Christ,"  is  signified,  that 
this  new  creation  was  evolved  within  the  glorified  humanity  of 
our  Lord.  By  "  which  God  gave  unto  Him,"  signifies,  that 
this  new  organic  creation  was  formed  by  the  Divine  Spirit 
within  the  structure  of  His  humanity.  "  To  show  unto  His 
servants,"  signifies,  that  all  angels  throughout  the  universal 
Heaven,  in  each  degree,  were  to  behold  this  new  creation. 
By  "  things,"  is  signified,  celestial,  spiritual,  and  ultimate 
heavenly  forms  and  substances,  which  are  the  particulars  of 
this  new  creation.  By  "which  mvist  quickly  be  done,"  is 
signified,  the  descent  of  the  forms  and  substance  of  this  new 
creation  into  the  natural  universe. 

8.  By  "  and  He  sent,"  is  to  be  understood,  that  our  Lord 
caused  to  be  opened  the  perceptions  of  the  angel  through 
whom  the  mysteries  of  this  new  creation  were  to  be  unfolded. 
By  "  and  signified,"  is  denoted,  the  evolution  of  the  truths  of 
this  new  creation  into  pictorial  forms  of  the  divine  representa- 


SEC.  7— lo.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  H 


tive  language.  By  "  His  angel/^  is  understood,  the  prophet 
Elijah,  through  whom  the  enunciation  Avas  made.  By  "  unto 
His  servant  John,"  is  understood,  the  descent  of  the  series 
of  the  pictorial  and  representative  forms  of  truths  into  the 
internals  of  the  mind,  and  thence  into  the  perception  of  the 
understanding  of  the  celestial  man.  Elijah  also  signifies,  as 
understood,  an  angelic  man  clothed  upon  with  the  body  of  the 
resurrection,  which  is  composed  of  the  spirits  of  the  primates 
and  the  ultimates  of  the  terrestrial  human  form.  For  par- 
ticulars of  the  resurrection,  see  A.  of  0.  1, 1. 490.  By  "  His  ser- 
vant John,'^  is  also  understood,  the  reception  of  this  revelation 
into  the  interiors  of  celestial  men,  who  were  once  inhabitants 
of  the  planet  Earth,  and  who  wait,  in  their  respective  heavenly 
societies,  their  full  investiture  with  the  glorified  body,  com- 
posed of  the  spirits  of  the  primates  and  the  ultimates. 

Chap.  i.  2. — ^^Who  baee  eecoed   of  the  Word  oe  God,  and 

OE    THE    TESTIMONY    OF    JeSUS    ChRIST,    AND    OF    ALL    THINGS 
THAT    HE    SAW.^^ 

9.  By  "^  who  bare  record  of  the  Word  of  God,"  is  signified, 
first,  that  the  celestial  man,  inhabiting  the  heavens  of  the 
planet  Earth,  bears  perpetual  witness  to  the  truths  of  this  new 
creation.  By ''  and  of  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,"  is  signi- 
fied, first,  that  it  is  the  declaration  of  the  celestial  man,  as  was 
said,  that  this  new  creation  is  formed  and  fashioned  by  the 
Divine  Spirit,  solely  in  and  through  His  assumed  and  glorified 
humanity.  By  "  and  of  all  things  that  he  saw,"  is  signified, 
that  these  forms  and  substances  of  the  new  creation  are  made 
representatively  visible  to  the  celestial  man.  The  second 
significance  of  this  verse  applies  to  the  beloved  disciple,  as  in 
his  intromission  into  the  Heavens ;  making  one  of  that  celes- 
tial humanity,  and  so  perceiving,  receiving,  and  communicating 
in  its  collective  wisdom. 

Chap.  i.  3. — "  Blessed  is  he   that  eeadeth,  and   they  that 

HEAE   the    WOEDS    OF  THIS  PEOPHECY,  AND  KEEP  THOSE  THINGS 
WHICH   AEE   WEITTEN    THEREIN:    FOE   THE    TIME    /,?  AT    HAND." 

10.  By  '^blessed  is  he  that  readeth,"  is  signified,  that  the 
ultimate  sub-degree  of  the  celestial  sense  of  the  Word  shall  be 


12  ABCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITT.  [chap.  i. 

opened.  By  "  blessed  "  is  signified,  tlie  beatitudes  into  wliicli 
those  shall  enter  who  shall  become  partakers  of  the  new 
creation,  in  so  far  as  it  pertains  to  the  reconstitution  of  the 
celestial,  spiritual,  and  ultimate  degrees  of  the  internal  man. 
These  things  are  read  in  the  heavens,  and  they  excite  a  lively 
desire,  in  the  minds  of  all  who  read,  to  become,  organically, 
partakers  of  the  forms  and  substances  of  the  new  creation. 

11.  By  "and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,^' 
is  signified,  the  preaching  of  the  truths  of  the  new  creation, 
from  the  ultimate  sub-degree  of  the  celestial  sense  of  the 
Word ;  that  those  who  hear,  through  divine  faith  and  love,  may 
become  partakers,  not  alone  of  the  new  creation,  as  received 
by  the  celestial  man,  who  readeth  in  the  heavens  of  the  orb ; 
but  also  in  the  descent  of  that  new  creation,  into  the  soul  and 
body  of  the  terrestrial  form ;  when  the  operation  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  shall  reinstate  mankind  in  the  orderly  mode  of  respira- 
tion, which  is  from  internals  to  externals,  by  the  incoming  of 
the  divine  life,  through  the  heavenly  degrees,  into  the  earthly 
degrees,  of  the  human  frame.  By  "and  keep  those  things 
which  are  written  therein,'''  is  signified,  first,  that  the  celestial 
man  becomes  a  partaker  in  the  forms  and  substances  of  the 
new  creation,  through  his  acceptance,  in  freedom,  of  the  divine 
will  for  his  will;  and  that  the  man  on  earth  enters  into  the 
same  felicities  through  yielding  implicitly  to  the  divine  breath, 
which  prompts  to  instant,  continuous,  and  universal  obedience 
to  every  divine  word.  By  "  for  the  time  is  at  hand,''  is 
signified,  the  beginning,  the  continuance,  and  the  triumph  of 
the  new  creation. 

Chap.  i.  4. — "John  to  the  seven  chueches  which  are  in  Asia: 
Grace  be  unto  you,  and  peace,  prom  Him  which  is,  and 
which  was,  and  which  is  to  come ;  and  prom  the  seven 
Spirits  which  are  bepore  His  throne." 

12.  By  "  John,"  is  signified,  the  inspired  celestial  man,  or 
humanity,  of  the  inmost  Celestial  Heaven,  who  receives  the 
archetypal  forms  of  the  revelation  or  new  creation.  "  To  the 
seven  churches,"  signifies,  here,  the  seven-fold  series  of  heavens 
in  each  Heaven,  these  being  arranged  in  groups  of  octaves, 
as  in  the  musical  scale,  and  through  which  descend  the  seven- 


SEC.  II— 13.]  THE  APOQALTPSE.  13 

fold  series  of  tlie  truths  of  the  new  creation^  in  successions  of 
typal  forms.  By  *■''  which  are  in  Asia/'  is  signified,  the  most 
ancient  states ;  the  word  Asia  being  understood  as  referring 
to  that  which  is  most  ancient,  or  before  all  others.  It  denotes, 
in  the  text,  the  universal  concurrence  of  the  most  ancient 
Heavens  in  the  reception  and  transmission  of  the  typal  forms 
of  the  truths  of  the  new  creation.  By  "  grace  be  unto  you," 
is  signified,  the  bestowment  of  an  increase  of  substantive 
forms,  from  the  new  creation,  in  the  fivefold  sphere  of  each 
Heaven.  For  fivefold  order  of  the  Heavens  see  A.  of  C.  1, 
I.  620.  By  "  and  peace,"  is  signified,  a  new  tranquillity,  or 
harmony,  ultimately  to  result  throughout  the  Heavens,  from 
the  incorporation  of  the  new  creation  in  and  throughout  their 
extenses. 

13.  By  "  from  Him  which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is 
to  come,"  is  signified,  the  threefold  revelation  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  in  each  Heaven.  God  shines  through  each  Heaven  from 
east  to  west,  by  a  prospective  ray,  revealing  things  to  come; 
and  this  light  is  through  the  frontal  regions  of  the  brain.  He 
shines  also,  by  a  luminous  appearance,  from  the  west  of  each 
Heaven  to  the  east.  This  effulgence  penetrates  the  brain  in  the 
basilar  region  in  three  degrees,  and  revives  or  imparts  know- 
ledges concerning  all  antiquity.  There  is,  besides,  a  third 
shining,  which  is  from  the  zenith  of  each  Heaven,  and  which 
penetrates  the  brain  in  the  coronal  region ;  the  effect  of  which 
is  to  make  known  the  present  states  of  universal  existences. 
The  west  of  Heaven  is,  moreover,  from  time  to  time,  in  its 
firmament,  a  sublime  panoramic  field,  where,  through  imaged 
outlines,  as  on  the  stage  of  some  vast  aerial  theatre,  the 
universes  and  systems  of  universes  that  have  passed  away, 
dramatise  the  epochs  of  each  eventful  history.  Otherwise 
with  the  east,  where  shines  for  ever  the  Sun  of  the  Divine 
Glory,  and  wherein,  from  time  to  time,  appear  the  wonder- 
thoughts  of  the  Infinite  Mind,  descending  to  be  wrought  into 
substantial  creations.  "  And  from  the  seven  Spirits,"  signifies, 
the  typal  forms  of  the  divine  attributes,  which  representatively 
appear  to  the  eyes  of  the  celestial  angels.  By  ''  which  are 
before  His  throne,"  is  signified,  that  the  typal  spirits  of  the 
attributes  are  made  visible  in  the  glory  of  the  Divine  Sun. 


14  ABCANA   OF  GRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

Chap.  i.  5. — "And  pkom  Jesus  Christ^  wno  is  the  faithful 
witness,  and  the  first-begotten  of  the  dead,  and  the 
Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth.  Unto  Him  that 
loved   us,  and   washed   us   from   our   sins   in   his  own 

BLOOD." 

14.  The  nature  of  that  visible  form  in  which  our  Lord 
appeared  on  earth,  was  crucified,  rose  from  the  dead,  and 
afterward  ascended  into  Heaven,  has  been  heretofore  treated 
of.  See  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  807,  and  sequel.  Also  A.  of  C.  2,  I.  1, 
and  sequel.  "  And  from  Jesus  Christ,"  signifies,  that  the 
typal  spirits  of  the  attributes  are  in  the  glorified  Divine 
Humanity  of  the  Lord,  and  are  visible  through  it.  "  Who  is 
the  faithful  witness,"  signifies,  that  all  divine  truths  are  com- 
municated primarily  from  Him  through  His  glorified  human- 
ity." "  And  the  first  begotten  of  the  dead,"  signifies,  that  the 
beginnings  of  the  new  creation  were  through  His  human 
person,  subsequent  to  the  resurrection.  "  And  the  Prince  of 
the  kings  of  the  earth,"  signifies  that,  in  His  human  person. 
He  is  the  head  of  the  spirits  of  the  primates  and  the  ultimates. 
By  "  kings  of  the  earth,"  is  signified,  the  sentient,  atomic  men, 
through  whom  all  atomic  particles,  in  their  first  forms,  are 
moved  and  actuated.  For  atomic  men,,  see  A.  of  C.  2,  L  15. 

15.  "Unto  Him  that  loved  us."  In  this  clause  is  concealed 
an  endless  series  of  truths  concerning  the  forms,  in  which 
the  Divine  Love  descended  into,  and  was  and  is  communi- 
cated through,  the  visible  humanity  of  our  Lord.  By  "  us," 
is  signified,  the  universal  series  of  angels,  fay-souls,  and 
atomic  men,  and  also  the  universal  series  of  world-souls 
and  universe-souls.  For  particulars  concerning  these,  see  A. 
of  C.  1",  I.  index.  "And  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His 
own  blood."  In  the  assumed  body  of  the  Lord  were  as  many 
degrees  of  substance  as  exist  throughout  the  universal  series 
of  divine  creations ;  otherwise  the  incarnation  would  not  have 
been  from  beginnings  to  ends,  from  first  to  last,  and  from  causes 
to  consequences.  For  the  degrees  of  substance  assumed  by 
our  Lord  in  the  incarnation,  see,  especially,  A.  of  0.  2,  I. 
chapter  1. 

16.  By  "and  washed  us,"  signifies,  the  outflowing  of  the 


SEC.I4— 18.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  15 

Holy  Ghost,  througli  its  discreted  appearance  of  person,  from 
tHe  Lord,  after  His  glorification,  by  means  of  whicli  tlie  new 
creation  began  to  appear.  By  "  from  our  sins,"  is  signified, 
that  the  effect  of  the  new  creation,  from  the  glorified  humanity 
of  the  Lord,  is  successively  to  elevate  the  whole  creation,  from 
the  former  harmony,  or  series  of  universal  movements,  in  which 
it  existed  prior  to  the  beginnings  of  evil,  into  a  new  condi- 
tion, or  superior  harmony,  the  nature  of  which  will  presently 
be  made  to  appear.  By  '^in  His  own  blood,''^  is  signified,  that 
there  was  a  vicarious  sacrifice  for  evil,  oflTered  by  the  Lord  in 
His  humanity ;  that  He  assumed  in  Himself  the  agony  of  the 
universe,  consequent  upon  its  derangement  through  the  origi- 
nation, introduction,  and  extension  of  sin ;  that  the '  whole 
universe  was  reconstructed  in  its  harmony  by  means  of  the 
works  which  He  performed  and  the  sufferings  which  He 
underwent ;  and  that  the  old  harmony  died  in  His  organiza- 
tion, in  which  also  the  new  was  born. 

Chap.  i.  6. — "And  hath  made  us  kings  and  peiests  unto  God 
AND   His  Father;    to  Him  be  gloey  and    dominion  foe 

EVEE  AND  EVER.       AmeN." 

17.  "And  hath  made,"  signifies,  the  process,  through  which 
the  new  harmony  is  introduced  into  the  constitutions  of  the 
universal  series  of  the  world-souls  and  the  universe-souls,  the 
suns  and  earths  of  the  universe,  the  Celestial,  Spiritual,  and 
Ultimate  Heavens,  the  soul-germs  descending  through  the 
Heavens  to  ultimation  as  natural  men,  the  Ultimative  Earths 
of  Spirits,  and  also  the  spirits  and  bodies  of  world-inhabiting 
human  creatures.  By  "  us,"  is  signified,  the  collective  unity 
of  the  creations,  which  receive  the  new  harmony.  By  "  kings 
and  priests,"  signifies,  seven  degrees  of  executive  and  sacer- 
dotal inspiration,  into  which  successively  inherit,  each  accord- 
ing to  his  own  quality  of  life,  the  various  intelligences  and 
existences,  who  receive  the  new  creation. 

18.  "Unto  God  and  His  Father,"  signifies,  the  unition, 
efiected  through  the  seven  degrees  of  resj)iration,  between  all 
who  are  made  receptive  of  them  and  the  typal  spirits  in  the 
Divine  Humanity  of  the  Lord.     By  "  Him,"  is  signified,  the 


16  ABC  AN  A   OF  CRRISTIANITT.  [chap.  t. 

Divine  Humanity,  in  its  present  state  of  glorification.  The 
body  of  the  Lord,  in  which  He  appeared  on  earth,  is  now 
apparent,  by  means  of  the  transmission  of  the  divine  ray, 
from  centres  to  circumferences,  at  once,  by  every  glorified 
immortal,  from  the  beginnings  of  creation.  "  To  Him  be 
giory,^'  signifies,  that  He  is  clothed  upon,  in  that  humanity, 
with  typal  forms  of  truths,  each  resplendent  from  an  inmost 
divine  shining ;  and  that  these  truths  are  the  organic  first 
forms,  with  which  He  travailed  on  earth ;  and  that  they  are 
projected  through  His  visible  person,  and  are  to  serve  as 
nuclei  of  constellations.  By  "  and  dominion,"  is  signified, 
first,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  enthroned  centre  of  the 
series  of  the  typal  spirits,  who  preside  over  all  orbs,  whether 
of  the  heavenly  or  sidereal  universe,  and  that  He  inspires  their 
motion.  By  "  for  ever  and  ever,"  is  signified,  continuities  of 
times,  in  which  He  is  to  rule  in  the  sidereal  universe ;  and  of 
states,  in  which  He  rules  throughout  all  Heavens.  "Amen," 
signifies,  response.  It  contains  arcana,  referring  to  modes  of 
the  celebration  of  divine  choral  service  by  angels. 


FIRST    ILLUSTEATIOK 

A  harvest-field  in  the  Celestial  Heaven. — Conversation  with  Moses  concern- 
ing the  human  body  in  which  our  Lord  was  incarnate  ;  and  also  con- 
cerning events  in  the  Spiritual  World  at  that  period  ;  also  concerning 
fays  and  fay  angels. 

19.  I  stood  in  the  Celestial  Heaven,  in  a  wheat-field,  and 
observed  Angels  reaping  the  abundant  grain.  One  drew 
nigh  and  welcomed  me  to  the  field,  which  was  in  a  province 
of  the  heavens  corresponding  to  the  cornea  of  the  right  eye. 
A  splendour  of  illumination  was  visible  in  the  east,  which 
denoted  prophecy.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  beheld  Moses, 
that  man  of  God.  Although  the  field  bore  a  luxurious  har- 
vest, it  was  also  covered  with  a  short  springing  grass,  inter- 
spersed with  flowers,  of  the  hues  of  purple  and  azure,  which 
emitted  a  delicious  perfume.  I  talked  with  Moses  concerning 
the  body  in  which  our  Lord  was  visible  on  earth,  during  the 
days  of  His  humiliation.  It  was  said  to  me,  by  him,  that 
Christ's  body  was  composed,  in  its  visible  form,  of  seven  zones 


SEC.  19—21.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  17 

of  animated  substance ;  and  that^  altliough  its  forms  were  so 
minute  to  a  man^s  natural  eye,  yet  tliose  wlio  beheld  with 
angelic  perception,  perceived  seven  continuous  degrees,  so 
vast  as  to  insphere  within  themselves  as  many  fay  races  as 
might  otherwise  have  existed  in  conjunction  with  all  men  of 
our  earth,  from  Adam  to  that  time,  though  all  of  them  had 
been  harmonic  creations.  I  asked  him  to  say  something,  from 
his  knowledge  of  the  Word,  concerning  the  changes  which 
occurred  within  the  visible  human  body  of  our  Lord,  prior 
to  the  last  days.  Twelve  particulars  which  he  mentioned  I 
here  narrate. 

20.  (i.)  This  body  was  born  with  open  respiration.  It  never 
slept  as  do  other  infants,  who  relapse  from  a  state  of  active 
sensation  upon  the  surfaces  of  the  frame,  into  a  state  of 
cradled  rest,  in  which  states  they  appear  inmostly  in  the  lowest 
places  of  the  Heavens,  with  angelic  guardians  there.  It  was 
the  peculiarity  of  this  body,  in  its  first  days,  that,  while  it 
seemed  naturally  to  sleep,  the  spirits  of  the  divine  attributes, 
heretofore  spoken  of,  descending  through  it,  in  a  sevenfold 
series,  interknit  that  visible  childlike  structure  with  the  entu^e 
infantile  humanity  of  our  planet.  It  became,  therefore,  a 
mediatorial  centre,  in  pivotal  sympathy  with  all  infants  upon 
the  globe ;  and  the  goings  forth  of  the  human  essence  of  the 
Divine  Child  were  not  of  the  nature  of  reabsorptions,  through 
the  Heavens,  towards  its  Infinite  Original ;  but,  to  the  contrary, 
of  the  nature  of  descents  and  outgoings  into  the  various 
organic  degrees  of  the  structures  of  all  terrestrial  infants.  It 
may  be  absolutely  said,  that,  in  this  manner,  the  Divine  Child 
visited,  in  the  most  intimate  sense,  every  child  on  the  earth, 
excluding  none. 

21.  (ii.)  It  was  furthermore  stated  that,  by  this  process,  the 
Divine  Child,  by  means  of  the  descent  of  the  seven  spirits  of 
the  attributes,  through  its  inmost,  penetrated  into  and  held 
communion  with  the  inmost  psychical  form,  which  centres  the 
personality  of  every  human  spirit  in  Hades  or  the  invisible 
state.  It  was  narrated  by  one  who  himself  abode  at  that  time 
in  the  invisible  state,  and  who  arose  from  it  at  the  judgment 
which  followed  the  glorification  of  our  Lord  (A.  of  C.  1,  I. 
846  and  sequel)  that  the  most  prepared  of  its  inhabitants,  who 

B 


18  AUCAJSTA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

enjoyed  vision,  beheld  the  Infant .  Saviour,  appearing  in  their 
inmosts,  and  awakening  mysterious  heart-voices,  so  that  some- 
thing in  them  seemed  to  be  glad  and  to  sing  for  joy.  It  was 
said  also  that  David,  or  one  representing  him,  who  was  at 
that  time  an  inhabitant  of  the  invisible  state,  became^  at  this 
period,  inspired  to  utter  songs  of  the  Divine  nativity. 

22.  Mothers,  who  were  there,  experienced  a  sensation  as  of 
a  child^s  spirit,  encircled  with  divine  auras,  gliding  in  and 
through  the  expanses  of  the  frame,  and  irradiating  their  in- 
most places  with  love,  containing  light  and  perfume,  and  with 
music  in  its  beams.  One  described  to  me  her  sensations.  A 
lovely  flower,  which  was  called  the  "flower  of  the  incar- 
nation," appeared  therein,  springing  from  the  soil  and  radiant 
in  its  own  light.  These  blossoms  diffused  a  fragrance  which 
lasted  through  states  corresponding  to  seven  earthly  years; 
and  those  who  saw  them  were  impelled,  by  an  irresistible 
desire,  to  gather  and  press  them  to  the  heart,  whereupon  they 
exercised  a  sovereign  virtue,  diffusing  an  elixir  through  the 
frame. 

23.  I  saw  a  representation  of  one  of  these  flowers.  It  came 
up  out  of  dry  ground.  One  might  have  trodden  upon  it, 
esteeming  it  of  no  account,  no,  of  not  more  than  a  wayside 
thistle.  I  beheld  an  Evil  Spirit,  who,  for  the  purpose  of  an 
illustration,  had  a  representative  figure  of  the  plant  shown  to 
him,  and  he  began  to  point  to  it  hatefully,  and  to  hiss  like  a 
serpent.  While  I  was  gazing  upon  it,  the  Lord  drew  nigh, 
and  I  fell  upon  my  face  and  worshipped.  The  flower  produced 
in  me  a  desire,  in  spite  of  the  sharp  spines  by  which  it  was 
surrounded,  to  clasp  it  in  my  arms,  and  press  it  to  my  bosom. 
The  woman,  now  an  Angel,  to  whom  I  have  referred  as  having 
resided  in  the  invisible  state  at  that  time,  described  to  me 
its  appearance  there,  saying,  that  it  grew  up  in  the  night,  and 
presented,  in  the  day,  the  likeness  of  some  compound  plant, 
bearing  the  leaves  of  the  cacti  upon  the  stem  of  the  thistle. "  It 
was  at  first  without  any  form  of  beauty,  nevertheless,  those 
who  were  in  conditions  which  made  them  susceptible  of  the 
redemptive  influence,  called  it  "  the  Saviour  flower." 

24.  The  most  beautiful  and  singular  fact  connected  with 
its   manifestation   remains   untold.     Wherever   one    of  these 


SEC.  22—27.]  THU    APOCALYPSE.  19 

appeared,  it  became  the  centre  of  a  parterre,,  and  spirals  of 
blossoming  plants  grew  around  it,  as  if  to  constitute  the  rays 
of  a  floral  sun,  each  opening  toward  it,  and  so  inwardly  to  its 
variegated  corolla,  as  if  absorbing  from  it  light  and  heat, 
through  which  to  bloom.  Those  who  approached  and  gathered 
blossoms  from  this  encompassing  floral  zone,  beheld  them 
speedily  vanish,  as  if  to  instruct  them  in  the  truth,  that  Christ 
was  not  to  be  received  through  any  reflex  image,  however 
beautiful.  When  they  approached  the  rude,  unsightly  plant, 
the  demons,  by  whom  they  were  infested,  mocked  them.  The 
exhalations  from  it  were  spiritually  so  poignant  that  they  pro- 
duced humiliation,  and  a  sense  of  utter  unworthiness  in  the 
soul,  and  there  were  whispering  voices  in  all  the  leaves,  which 
seemed  to  converse  with  the  internal  principles  of  the  breast 
in  their  own  occult  tongue. 

25.  Those  who  found  courage,  from  faith,  to  pluck  the 
thorny  leaves,  and  to  press  them  to  the  bosom,  declared  that, 
when  the  first  hurt  was  over,  inefiable  joy  remained,  and  that 
they  were  a  cure-all  of  those  diseases  of  the  spiritual  person 
with  which  the  inhabitants  were  afflicted — blindness,  palsy,  and 
the  like.  There  also  appeared  in  the  invisible  state,  at  the  same 
period,  snow  white  lambs,  without  spot  or  blemish,  and  full 
of  eyes  without  and  within,  so  that  they  resembled  creatures 
of  white  and  jewelled  fire. 

26.  (iii.)  All  respiration  through  the  lungs  of  the  Divine 
Infant  was  from  the  Infinite  Spirit.  Its  breathings  during  sleep 
varied  from  those  of  the  active  hours.  There  was  a  universal 
conspiration  in  the  respiration  at  all  times,  not  with  one 
Heaven  alone,  but  with  all  Heavens.  It  is  not  generally 
known  that  the  world-souls  respire ;  yet,  this  being  true,  it  is 
also  true  that  the  infantile  humanity  of  our  Lord  respired  in 
conspiration  with  the  world-souls  of  the  universe.  His  respir- 
ation, in  fine,  was  universal.  It  was  thus  that  He  maintained 
ubiquity,  even  through  the  natural  degree  of  His  human 
organism. 

27.  (iv.)  The  consciousness  of  the  Divine  Child,  through 
respiration,  was  continuously  enlarged  in  its  natural  degree. 
Through  His  incarnation,  the  pre-existent  harmony  of  the 
universe,  which  had  been  invaded  because  of  sin,  was  repeated, 

B  2 


20  ARCANA    OF   CEBISTIANITY.  [ceap.  t. 

by  means  of  respiration,  in  every  organic  act ;  so  that  He 
never  was  without  a  consciousness  of  pain.  This  pain  became 
more  acute  incessantly,  and  the  fiery  serpent  of  sin,  which 
had  effected  a  lodgment  in  the  system  of  the  universe,  was 
felt  continually,  as  a  stinging  adder  in  the  breast. 

28.  When  the  internal  respiration  is  opened,  and  continued 
to  the  natural  degree,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  breathes  through 
a  man,  in  ever  so  slight  a  manner,  through  that  respiration 
the  economy  of  the  human  kingdom  on  our  orb,  which  is  all 
connected,  and  which  sympathises  as  an  organic  whole,  is 
shocked  as  by  electric  charges.  So  far  as  respiration  has 
proceeded,  there  is  a  fine  vibration  through  every  part  of 
the  frame  which  thus  respires,  in  opposition  to  that  universal 
vibratory  movement,  from  externals  to  internals,  which  is  the 
consequence  of  the  closed  or  abnormal  condition  of  mankind. 
From  this  cause  it  ensues,  that  the  universal  body  of  the  Hells, 
as  a  composite  form,  in  close  conjunction  with  the  humanity  of 
earth,  discerns  the  approach  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  is  filled 
with  unspeakable  indignation  against  the  human  agent  or 
agents  through  whom  it  proceeds.  Those  who  respire  in 
accordance  with  the  restored  divine  order  of  creation,  breathe 
against  the  breaths  of  the  whole  world,  and  against  Hell  itself. 

29.  In  so  far  as  any  hereditary  inversions  or  malformations 
exist  within  the  structure  of  the  brain,  or  to  the  extent  in 
which  evils  obtain  a  lodgment  therein,  the  body  of  the  one  who 
respires  resists  the  action  of  the  Divine  Spirit ;  the  organization 
becomes  the  theatre  of  a  divine  war,  and  the  breaths  which 
descend  from  the  Holy  One,  begetting  a  continuity  of  celestial- 
natural  vibrations  within  the  structure,  are  met,  in  hostility, 
by  the  breaths  which  emanate  from  Pandemonium,  which 
produce  an  opposite  series  of  vibrations  that  are  infernal-- 
natural. 

30.  (v.)  But,  when  our  Lord  was  first  incarnate,  He  took 
upon  Himself,  in  the  organism  fashioned  in  the  womb  of  the 
virgin,  a  universal  series  of  inverted  forms,  which  resisted 
the  divine  breath  from  the  beginning.  The  symmetry  and 
harmony  of  the  Divine  soul-germ,  within  the  natural,  was  so 
great,  that  the  body  was  held  subject  to  the  vibrations  des- 
cending through  it ;  nevertheless,  a  sea  of  pain  surged  around 


SEC.  28—32.]  TRE   AFOCALTPSE.  •  21 


it  continually.  The  Lord^s  divine  body  existed  perpetually 
within  the  apparent  human,  but  it  was  first  in  appearance  that 
of  a  child.  During  the  first  seven  years,  the  natm-al  conscious- 
ness was  enabled  to  receive  only  the  perceptions  proper  to 
children  of  the  unfallen  worlds  ;  suffering,  and  the  knowledge 
of  evil  in  the  natural  world,  and  also  in  the  spu-itual  world, 
being  exceptions.  During  this  period.  He  was  much,  as  to 
perception  and  natural  consciousness,  with  children  of  a 
corresponding  age,  from  the  sun  and  from  planets  in  our 
own  solar  system,  where  evil  has  no  place.  In  this  way,  the 
natural  plane  of  the  understanding  was  made  the  repository 
of  the  affections  and  the  delights,  and  also  of  the  knowledges 
peculiar  to  the  harmonic  infancy ;  of  which,  however,  so  great 
was  His  discretion,  that,  to  all  in  the  natural  world.  He 
maintained  an  unbroken  silence ;  becoming  perfect  in  the  great 
lesson,  which  all  must  learn  who  would  serve  as  pivotal  or 
associated  men  in  the  New  Christian  Age, — absolute  isolation 
from  the  subversive  movement  of  the  inverted  natural  man ; — 
perfect  sympathy  with  the  hai'monic  movement  and  order  of 
the  unfallen  universe. 

31.  (vi.)  The  unfallen  man  respires  invariably  from  internals 
to  externals,  the  Holy  Spirit  breathing  through  the  organs  of 
the  frame.  This  was  Adam's  original  mode  of  respiration ; 
but  our  Lord,  as  the  second  Adam,  conquered  back  the  lost 
respiration  of  the  orb.  He  wrested  from  the  Hells  their  or- 
ganic force,  by  means  of  which  they  were  enabled  to  sufibcate 
all  members  of  the  human  family  open  to  respiration  after  the 
internal  or  primeval  mode.  All  His  life  was  properly  a  battle 
of  respiration. 

32.  (vii.)  During  states  of  natural  waking,  the  Divine  Child 
consociated  strictly  with  the  various  fay  races  of  the  earth  and 
of  the  universe.  He  lived  thus  in  nature  and  in  time  with 
the  incorporated  sphere  of  innocence,  unpolluted  by  the  evils 
of  the  fall.  By  means  of  His  respirations.  He  attracted  the 
universal  fay  race.  The  finer  elements  of  nature,  reconsti- 
tuted through  the  action  of  His  breaths,  served  as  the  basis 
of  an  orbed,  revolving  sphere,  which  encompassed  Him,  and 
in  which  He  moved,  more  glorious  to  the  inner  eye  than  is 
the  natural  sun.     This,  densely  peopled,  and  successively  un- 


ABCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.  [chap.  i. 


folded  into  seven,  was  matui-ed  througli  every  breathing  motion 
of  tlie  frame,  and  became  at  length  a  composite  fay-sphere  of 
the  natural  degree. 

33.  At  every  glance  of  His  benignant  eye,  or  utterance  of 
the  voice,  or  movement  of  the  hand,  but  especially  in  the 
breaths  which  proceeded  from  His  lips,  the  fays  moved  forth 
in  choral  myriads;  and,  as  the  rays  of  the  divine  sphere 
emanating  from  Him  pervaded  human  organizations,  they 
found  access  to  them,  rejoicing  within  the  heart,  and  wor- 
shipping within  the  breast.  Internal  respiration  not  being 
restored  to  any  of  the  disciples,  the  fays  maintained  their 
place  within  the  organic  structures  of  the  followers  of  the 
Lord,  by  remaining  entirely  within  the  Divine  sphere,  ad- 
vancing in  its  advances,  and  disappearing  in  its  recessions. 
Demons  were  cast  out  by  means  of  the  fay  sphere,  which, 
being  that  of  perfect  forms  of  innocence,  pervaded  by  the 
Divine  Spirit,  which  is  Innocence  itself,  wherever  it  permeated 
the  human  system  expelled  its  opposites. 

34.  (viii.)  It  was  by  means  of  the  fay- sphere  that  our  Lord, 
prior  to  His  glorification,  diffused  the  Spirit  which  He  im- 
parted to  His  disciples.  None  but  the  simple-hearted  and 
the  obedient  were  enabled  to  receive  the  fays,  even  for  a 
moment.  They  entered  the  systems  only  of  such  as  began  to 
receive  the  Word.  As  the  presence  of  harmonious  and  gentle 
birds  fills  a  grove  with  melody,  and  diffuses  upon  the  air  an 
inexpressible  exhilaration,  so  the  presence  of  the  fays  within 
the  human  bosom,  and  within  the  groves  and  gardens  of  the 
affections  there,  awoke  a  silent  song  of  praise  and  gratitude. 

35.  (ix.)  When  our  Lord  was  tempted  of  Satan,  He  was 
encompassed  by  the  fay-sphere,  impenetrable  by  the  adver- 
sary ;  and  Angels  beheld  the  fays  in  their  successive  degrees, 
grouped  together  as  into  shielding  garments  for  His  human 
natural  form.  The  fay  cannot  be  injured,  even  when  connected 
with  the  sphere  of  an  open-respiring  disciple,  except  through 
violations  of  the  laws  of  order,  upon  the  part  of  that  dis- 
ciple, or  of  those  for  whom  he  labours  in  martyr  love ;  but, 
inasmuch  as  the  Lord  in  His  humanity  was  sinless,  the  fays 
were  incapable  of  being  hurt. 

36.  (x.)  When  the  Lord   languished   upon  the  cross.  He 


SEC.  33—38.]  TRE    AFOCALTPSE.  23 

broke  His  own  fay  bocly^  and  distributed  tlie  fay  souls  of  which 
it  was  composed  throughout  the  humanity  of  the  entire  orb, 
those  fixed  in  evil  being  the  sole  exceptions ;  investing  each 
tiny  agent  of  His  will  with  an  impenetrable  aromal  element, 
impervious  to  evil.  The  fays,  who  were  in  the  seven  spheres 
of  the  Lord^s  natural  body,  followed  Him  to  the  Heavens, 
and  are  now  called  divine  fay  angels. 

37.  (xi.)  The  breaths  which  descended  into  the  human 
natural  lungs  of  the  Divine  Child  were  through  the  seven 
spirits  of  the  attributes.  There  is  no  fire  on  earth,  which,  by 
any  known  process  of  intensification,  can  suggest  an  idea  of 
the  ardours  which  inflow  into  the  bosoms  of  the  good  upon 
the  orbs  of  the  harmonic  universe.  The  sensation  of  heat,  to 
which  the  physical  system  is  gradually  accustomed,  is  such, 
that  evil  spirits  beholding  them  from  afar,  see  them  standing, 
as  to  appearance,  in  furnaces  of  white  and  living  fire.  It 
was  the  breath  of  the  Lord^s  mouth,  during  His  incarnation, 
that  excited,  in  the  bosoms  of  those  fixed  in  evil  among  the 
world^s  inhabitants,  an  opposite  flame  of  utter  rage  and  hate. 
The  bodies  of  evil  men  become  filled,  through  indulgence  in 
corrupt  passions,  with  a  debased  aura,  which  loads  the  lungs 
and  densely  impregnates  the  brain.  This  absolutely  kindles, 
and  bmms  with  a  fierce  heat,  when  exposed  to  the  breath  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  As  it  burns,  the  evil  passions,  which  have 
become  enormous  organic  bodies  within  the  frame,  cease  to 
gorge  themselves,  and  vsTithe  from  the  midst  of  their  agonies, 
unconsumed,  yet  burning  continually. 

38.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  evil  passions,  which  have 
acquired  organic  forms  within  the  bodies  of  those  who  are 
seeking  to  become  regenerate.  All  evil  passions  are  procrea- 
tive  within  the  body,  and  it  swarms,  in  its  internal  spaces, 
with  reptiles  and  creeping  things.  The  descent  of  the  divine 
breath  into  the  body,  through  the  retm^n  of  the  true  respira- 
tion, causes  them  to  languish  and  decay.  The  fays  descend 
into  the  organic  spaces  which  they  occupied,  and  remove  their 
remains.  The  mighty  breath  of  the  Lord,  however,  descend- 
ing through  His  body,  in  which  He  was  incarnate,  performed, 
in  the  bodies  of  the  disciples,  many  of  the  first  results  which 
ensue   upon   the   return   of  open  respiration.     It   extirpated 


24  ABC  AN  A    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

multitudes  of  embodied  evil  passions,  existing  as  organic 
natural  entities  witli  monstrous  shapes,  witliin  tlie  human 
spaces  of  the  frames  of  the  disciples ;  and  enabled  them  to 
become  the  immediate  agents  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  after  the 
Son  of  man  was  glorified. 

39.  (xii.)  So  vast  were  the  human  oxtenses  within  the 
natural  body  of  our  Lord,  that  the  fays,  who  dwelt  therein, 
and  who  followed  Him  to  the  celestial  state,  were  as  the  small 
dust  for  number.  Upon  the  day  of  Pentecost  they  began  to 
return  in  their  glorified  forms.  They  appeared,  in  their 
efiluent  spheres,  as  tongues  of  fire  upon  the  disciples,  and 
served  as  the  vehicles  of  a  continuous  divine  inspiration,  of 
which,  however,  the  disciples  were  unconscious  as  to  its  mode 
of  operation.  Were  men  at  the  present  day  (1861)  fully  re- 
stored to  a  true  respu-ative  state,  divine  fay  angels  would  again 
return ;  and  they  will  do  so  at  no  distant  period ;  not  for  the 
protection  and  quickening  of  the  good  alone,  but  also  to  the 
discomfiture  of  the  evil.  The  removal  of  the  obstruction 
between  the  spiritual  and  the  natural  lungs  of  man,  by  means 
of  which  the  divine  breath  descends  into  the  natural,  is 
invariably  effected  through  a  divine  fay  angel  from  the  glorified 
divine  human  body  of  our  Lord.  "  But  who  may  abide  the 
day  of  His  coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when  He  appeareth  ? 
for  He  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like  fullers'  sope :  and  He 
shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver :  and  He  shall 
purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver, 
that  they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  offering  in  righteous- 
ness." (Mai.  iii.  2,  3.) 

SECOND  ILLTJSTEATION. 

An  interview  with  Galileo,  Tyclio  Brahe,  and  Copernicus  ;  also  with  spirits 
from  Mercury  and  Jupiter. — Statements  concerning  the  ancient  harmony 
of  the  solar  system.— The  ancient  respiration,  simple  and  composite ; 
also  relating  to  respiration  on  our  earth  in  the  most  ancient  times  ;  also 
concerning  respiration  and  harmony,  as  invaded  and  interrupted  through 
moral  evil. 

40.  I  saw  the  philosopher,  Tycho  Brahe.  He  was  in  com- 
pany with  Galileo,  and  both  of  them  were  in  a  state  of  exceeding 
joy.     The  former   was  attired  in  a  garment  of  flamy  purple. 


SEC.  39—43.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  25 

the  latter^  in  one  like  tlie  blue  lieaven  bestudded  with  constel- 
lations. For  a  period  of  celestial  time^  corresponding  to  many 
hours  of  that  of  our  planet^  I  was  in  their  society;  this  was 
in  the  year  1858.  Spirits  from  Mercury,  and  also  from  Jupiter, 
were  in  consociation  with  us,  and  the  subject  which  occupied 
our  attention  was  the  ancient  harmony  of  the  Solar  System,  of 
which  our  orb  is  a  member,  prior  to  the  introduction  of  moral 
evil  therein.  Nicholas  Copernicus  joined  us,  and,  in  com- 
pany with  him,   an  ancient  Swede. 

41.  There  were  twelve  methods  of  respiration  peculiar  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earths  and  suns  of  the  universe,  before 
this  ancient  harmony  was  invaded.  These  were  respectively 
as  follows: — First,  respiration  from  internals  to  externals 
through  the  Celestial  Heaven  :  Second,  through  the  Spiritual 
Heaven:  Third,  through  the  Ultimate  Heaven  :  Fourth,  through 
the  Ultimative  Earth  •  of  Spirits  :  Fifth,  through  the  series  of 
world-souls :  Sixth,  through  the  life-world  of  each  Heaven : 
Seventh,  through  the  love-world  of  each  Heaven :  Eighth, 
through  the  form-world  of  each  Heaven:  Ninth,  through  the 
essence-world  of  each  Heaven:  Tenth,  through  the  harmony- 
world  of  each  Heaven :  Eleventh,  through  the  most  immediate 
access  of  the  Divine  Spirit  through  the  inmost  degree  of  the 
will :  Twelfth,  through  the  full  and  plenary  possession  of  the 
man  by  the  Divine  Spirit. 

42.  In  the  first  of  these  states  of  respiration,  the  Celestial 
aura  descended,  pure  and  unmixed,  and  a  perception  was 
afforded,  as  from  without,  of  the  appearances  of  objects  in 
that  Heaven.  In  the  second  respiration,  the  aura  of  the  Spirit- 
ual Heaven  descended,  free  from  admixtures,  resulting  in 
perception  of  the  types  and  images  of  the  creations  there. 
In  the  third  respiration,  the  aura  was  solely  and  purely  of 
the  Ultimate  Heaven,  and  it  was  followed  by  visual  per- 
ception of  the  magnificent  embodiments  of  art  and  nature  in 
the  final  or  extreme  region  of  the  heavenly  expanses.  Res- 
piration through  the  Ultimative  Earth  of  Spirits  was  attended 
with  the  phenomena  of  the  perception  of  the  universal  series 
of  forms  extant  thereon,  whether  types  of  the  animal,  vegetable, 
and  mineral  kingdoms,  or  of  the  art-creations. 

43.  It  was  the  peculiarity  of  respiration,  through  the  world- 


2G  ABCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  [cuap.  j. 

souls,  tliat  perception  was  given  in  consequence,  in  a  unitary 
view,  of  the  sublime  forms  of  animated  nature,  of  the  human 
races,  and  of  their  civilization,  from  planet  to  planet  and  from 
sun  to  sun.  In  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  620  to  640,  the  reader  will 
find  statements  concerning  the  five  inworlded  degrees  in  the 
order  of  each  Heaven.  The  inspiration  which  resulted  from 
the  inhalation  of  the  Divine  aura,  descending  tfirough  each  of 
these,  was  attended  by  corresponding  perceptions  of  their 
truth,  quality,  and  substance,  each  in  its  own  separate  sphere. 
Higher  and  nobler  than  any  of  the  preceding  modes,  that 
form  of  respiration  which  ensued  from  the  immediate  approach 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  through  the  inmosts  of  the  will,  resulted 
in  an  elevation  of  the  mind  to  a  perception  of  the  divine  ideas, 
immediately  descending  from  the  Father  Deity.  The  twelfth 
and  last  mode  was  one  in  which  the  Divine  Spirit  inbreathed 
directly  through  all  the  organs,  and  temporarily  suspended  the 
objective  consciousness,  making  use  of  the  man  as  a  direct 
medium  and  organ  of  communication. 

44.  As  men  upon  the  orbs  were  simple  or  composite  in 
character,  respiration  was  simple  or  composite  as  well.  Simple 
respiration  is  accompanied  by  the  opening  of  but  one  pro- 
vince of  perceptions  of  a  corresponding  character,  into  the 
region  whence  the  breath  descends.  Composite  respiration 
is  a  simultaneous  descent  of  the  breaths  into  different  degrees 
in  the  respu'atory  system,  and  results  in  a  multiform  per- 
ception of  truths  and  objects  in  as  many  degrees.  For 
instance,  in  cases  of  simple  respiration,  as  from  the  Spiritual 
Heaven,  the  province  in  the  mind  which  corresponds  to  that 
Heaven  would  be  opened  to  a  perception  of  its  forms,  and 
vast  extenses  of  its  magnificent  landscapes  might  delight  the 
quickened  sense  of  vision.  In  composite  respiration  the 
divine  breaths  might  descend  at  once  from  the  three  Heavens, 
into  as  many  degrees  of  the  man,  producing  a  trinal  respir- 
ation of  the  corresponding  quality,  and  resulting  in  a  trinary 
view  of  the  celestial,  spiritual,  and  ultimate  heavenly  expanses, 
the  one  within  and  above  the  other.  It  is  apparent,  from 
this  fact,  how  wonderful  were  the  possibilities  of  knowledges 
to  be  acquired  by  man. 

45.  After  the  fall  of  the  first  parents  of  om-  own  human 


SEC.  44—48.]  THE    APOCALYPSE.  27 


race,  the  superb  Nation  of  the  Golden  Age^  formed  from  the 
good  of  their  descendants,  existed  in  simphstic  respiration. 
Composite  respiration  did  not  exist_,  nor  was  it  possible,  for 
many  reasons,  of  which  this  may  here  be  specified.  The  in- 
herited organic  evils  in  the  will,  though  in  a  latent  state, 
were  immanent  there.  The  stream  of  influx  was  exceedingly 
small  and  guarded,  as,  otherwise,  it  would  have,  by  inflowing 
into  and  through  these  inverted  organic  forms,  aroused  from 
their  partially  quiescent  state,  the  fierce  wrath  of  the  anarchs 
in  the  hell  of  the  lost  orb,  who,  at  that  time,  were  seeking 
continually  to  acquire  dominion  over  our  human  race. 

46.  So  long  as  evil  was  non-extant  in  the  universe,  the  res- 
piration was  vast,  and  only  limited  by  the  receptive  capacities 
of  the  organs  j  nor  were  there,  in  the  organization,  any  latent 
cupidities  and  lusts  to  be  stimulated  by  it ;  nor  was  there  any 
spiritual  combat,  as  between  good  and  evil,  produced  thereby. 
This  was  because  there  was  nothing  in  man  opposed  to  Divine 
Order,  and  no  hell  of  demons  to  be  roused  into  wrath  and  to 
inflow. 

47.  Moreover,  in  consequence  of  the  fall,  so  imperfect  were 
the  ultimate  bodies  of  the  organs  for  the  reception  of  influx, 
that  physical  death  would  have  ensued  had  the  tendency  of  the 
influx  to  the  individual,  resulting  from  the  past  motion  of  the 
universe,  not  been  restrained.  The  position  of  these  earlier 
descendants  of  the  first  Adam  was  indeed  anomalous.  While 
inheriting  into  the  capacity  of  respiration,  from  internals  to 
externals,  in  an  imperfect  manner,  the  latent  evil  selfhood, 
which  they  had  also  inherited,  was  endeavouring,  through  the 
absorption  and  misappropriation  of  that  very  influx,  to  unite 
itself  organically  with  hell.  This  was  the  condition  of  the 
nations  before  the  event  which  is  known  symbolically  and 
scripturally  as  "  the  flood." 

48.  As  generation  after  generation  receded  still  farther 
from  that  blessed  state  of  charity,  which  may  not  inaijpro- 
priately  be  called  ''  golden,"  the  hells  were  enabled  still  more 
copiously  to  inflow  into  the  minor  and  lesser  organs  of  the 
frame.  In  the  same  proportion,  also,  the  Heavens  receded; 
for  all  Heaven,  in  one  organic  form,  clothed  upon  with  the 
world-souls  of  the  universe,   as  man  became  more  prone  to 


28  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [cuap. 


evil,  experienced  repulsion  from  liim.  The  analogy  is  found 
in  tlie  law  of  disease  in  the  human  frame.  Up  to  the  point 
whereat  a  diseased  member  of  the  body  ceases  to  appropriate 
the  influx  from  the  animal  soul  for  the  purpose  of  restora- 
tion, all  the  faculties  in  that  animal  soul  conspire  to  impart 
continuous  healing  circulations.  When,  however,  this  point 
is  passed,  and  the  diseased  member  feeds  the  death  within 
it  from  the  influxes  of  the  corporate  life,  endeavouring 
thereby  to  pour  a  counter  current  of  decay  through  the  organ- 
ization, the  animal  soul  seeks  to  avert  the  circulations  from 
the  aS'ected  point. 

49.  The  universe,  prior  to  the  origin  of  evil,  did  not  possess 
distributive  organs,  for  the  possible  readjustment  of  itself 
against  an  inversive  movement  hostile  to  Divine  Good  ;  liable 
to  occur  from  the  voluntary  fall  of  the  creature.  The  per- 
fection of  the  action  of  its  universal  mechanism  depended 
upon  the  concurrent  and  unbroken  obedience  of  all  men,  upon 
all  earths,  throughout  space,  whether  solar,  aromal,  or  terres- 
trial. 

50.  When,  therefore,  the  anarch  of  the  lost  orb  wilfully 
inverted  his  gigantic  powers,  gave  birth  to  the  iniquity  of 
sin,  and  led  away  so  many  of  his  kindred  and  their  kind  to 
the  final  destruction  of  their  planet,  the  Lord  God,  by  a  new 
descent  of  His  Divine  Spirit  into  ultimates,  in  answer  to 
prayer  from  the  Universal  Heavens,  and  from  the  menaced 
and  invaded  human  creature,  or  the  humanity  of  the  uni- 
verses, provided  means  for  the  maintenance  of  equilibrium, 
so  that  evil  should  not,  except  through  the  moral  concurrence 
of  a  new  race  of  tempted  human  creatures,  overflow  its  bounds. 
The  introduction  of  moral  evil,  into  the  midst  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  present  earth,  inevitably  placed  mankind  thereon 
in  equilibrium ;  and  the  human  will  was  held  in  play,  on  the 
pivot  of  moral  freedom,  between  the  opposite  inflowings,  and 
consequent  attractions,  of  the  Heavens  and  the  Hells.  For 
certain  particulars,  concerning  this  series  of  events,  see  A.  of 
C.  1,  I.  654  to  669. 

51.  From  the  time  when  the  first  golden  race  began  to 
recede  from  charity,  and  so  from  obedience — for  without 
charity  there  is  no  obedience — the  tendency  of  mankind  was 


SEC.  49—53]  THE   AFOCALTPSE.  29 

rapidly  toward  a  state  in  wliicli,  tlirougli  tlie  inversion  of  the 
organic  forms  in  the  selfhood,  a  ground  or  theatre  was  formed 
for  the  deploy  and  action  of  Satan  and  his  hosts.  The  hells 
rose  successively,  in  the  lapse  of  man  from  order,  first  into 
the  spiritual  organs  which  form  the  soles  of  the  feet ;  then 
through  the  feet  themselves,  and  gradually  upward  to  the 
organs  of  procreation.  Having  conquered  the  organic  centres 
of  reproduction,  the  quality  of  the  delights  of  marriage  under- 
went a  change  and  deterioration;  and  potency,  which  hereto- 
fore had  been  from  a  mixed  influx  in  which  the  heavenly  pre- 
dominated, now  became  sensual,  inclining  to  the  infernal. 

52.  From  this  period  ensued  the  most  rapid  degradation 
of  mankind.  The  heavenly  influx  was  still  farther  arrested 
from  this  point,  because,  being  inverted  in  the  diseased 
organs,  the  descendants  of  such  as  received  it  in  an  impure 
condition  of  the  affections  of  the  will,  would  have  developed  a 
stupendous  capacity  for  sorcery,  through  conjunction  with  the 
demons  of  the  lost  orb.  It  was  in  view  of  these,  among  other 
considerations,  that  our  Lord  finally  caused  respiration,  from 
internals  to  externals,  to  cease  altogether.  Man  was  then  sunk 
deeply  into  the  corporeal  to  cut  him  ofi"  from  direct  access  to 
Pandemonium,  and  to  prevent  him  from  becoming  utterly 
infernal. 

Chap.  i.  7. — "  Behold,  He  cometh  with  clouds  ;  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also  which  pieeced  him  : 
and  all  kindreds  op  the  earth  shall  wail  because  op 
Him.     Even  so,  Amen.''^ 

53.  "  Behold,"  signifies,  perception.  "  He  cometh  with 
clouds,"  signifies,  the  evolution  of  the  new  creation,  through 
spirals  of  vortices,  from  the  Sun  of  suns,  which  is  the  centre  of 
the  universes.  "  And  every  eye  shall  see  Him,"  signifies,  a 
new  degree  of  perception,  imparted  to  all  angels,  enabling 
them  to  behold  the  wonders  of  the  new  creation  in  their  Final 
Cause.  "And  they  which  pierced  Him,"  signifies,  that  all 
Lost  Spirits,  in  the  hell  of  the  orb  which  was  destroyed  because 
of  sin,  together  with  all  who  have  become  Evil  Spirits  from 
the  planet  Earth,  shall,  inversely,  and  by  antagonism,  until 
the  times  of  the  end,  receive  an  obscure  perception  that  this 


30  ARCANA    OF   GHBISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

new  creation  is  being  establislied.  *^  And  all  kindreds  of  the 
earth  shall  wail  because  of  Him/'  signifies,  the  descent  of  the 
new  creation  into  the  internals  of  all  natural  men  upon  the 
planet  Earth,  producing,  to  those  receptive  of  the  Divine  in- 
fluences, the  agony  of  a  death  to  sin  in  the  ultimate  bodily 
parts ;  but  totally  destroying  the  bodies  of  those  who  resist, 
being  confirmed  in  evil;  casting  also  their  spirits  into  hell. 
"■  Even  so.  Amen."  By  this  is  implied,  the  sympathy  between 
the  universal  Heaven,  in  which  the  new  divine  order  is  estab- 
lished, and  the  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  shall 
cleanse  and  purify  the  planet  Earth. 

Chap.  i.  8. — "I  am  Alpha  and   Omega,  the   beginning  and 

THE    ENDING,    SAITH    THE    LOED,  WHICH    IS,  AND    WHICH   WAS, 
AND   WHICH   IS    TO    COME,    THE    ALMIGHTY.''^ 

54.  The  ground  of  the  creation  is  in  the  Divine  Spirit. 
Whatever,  therefore,  sin  excepted,  exists  in  time  and  space, 
or  in  the  Heavens,  must  be  considered  as  the  symbol  of  a 
reality  within  the  Infinite  First  Cause.  Nature,  sin  excepted, 
is  an  organic  Word,  revealing  Deity.  "  I  am  Alpha,'"*  signi- 
fies, the  Divine  Infinitude  above  the  universe.  ''  And  Omega," 
signifies,  the  Divine  Infinitude  in  the  ends  of  the  universe.  So 
inconceivably  august  is  the  structure,  even  of  the  least  atom, 
that,  as  a  complex  form,  it  is  receptive  of  a  direct  stream  of 
influx  from  the  seven  spirits  of  the  attributes,  through  whom 
the  universe  is  measured  and  maintained.  I  saw  the  spirit  of 
an  atom,  mirrored,  by  a  Divine  art,  upon  the  wall  of  a  temple 
in  the  Celestial  Heaven.  It  was  magnified,  to  bring  it 
within  the  plane  of  view,  more  times  beyond  its  dimensions 
than  the  natural  intellect  may  compute.  It  was  more  magnifi- 
cent than  aught  the  imagination  can  conceive  of,  concerning 
God's  throne  ;  and  the  books  that  might  be  written  concerning 
its  wonders,  would  fill  immensity.  I  then  perceived  that  there 
was  a  distinct  and  separate  divine  manifestation  in  every 
atom,  and  that  these  were  capable  of  being  magnified  to  vision, 
as  I  have  described,  so  as  to  be  perceived  by  Celestial  Angels. 
Not  so  much  as  the  arcana  in  the  outmost  degree  of  one  of 
those  atoms  has  ever  been  fully  made  known,  even  in  the 
Heavens.     The  atoms  differ,  as  star  difiers  from  star  in  the 


SEC.  54—56.]  TRE   APOCALYPSK  31 

firmament ;  and  as  Angelic  Societies  vary  in  their  resplendent 
beauties.  "  And  Omega/*  signifies,  God  revealed  tkrougli  the 
atomic  Word ;  of  which  more  in  another  place. 

55.  "  The  beginning/'  signifies,  the  Divine  Fatherhood. 
''The  ending/*  signifies,  the  Divine  Motherhood."  "  Saith 
the  Lord,"  signifies,  the  infinite  conjunction  of  the  male  and 
female  in  the  Infinite  Divine  Man,  so  that  they  are  not  two, 
but  one  Personality,  indivisible  and  eternal.  "  Which  is," 
signifies,  God  in  His  Divine  Humanity,  since  his  assumption  of 
the  universal  human  form,  through  the  Incarnation.  "  Which 
was,"  signifies,  that  this  universal  human  form  was  from  eter- 
nity pre-extant  in  the  Divine  Consciousness,  as  a  means  for 
the  begetting  of  a  new  creation.  ''  Which  is  to  come,"  sig- 
nifies, the  more  visible  and  magnificent  revelation  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  when  the  new  creation  becomes  ultimated,  according  to 
the  divine  design.  "  The  Almighty,"  signifies,,  in  this  con- 
nection, the  supreme  ability  of  the  Lord,  in  His  divine  hu- 
manity, to  envolve  new  and  superior  creations. 

Chap.  i.  9. — "  I  John,  who  also  am  your  brother,  and  com- 
panion IN  tribulation,  and  in  the  kingdom  and  patience 
OP  Jesus  Christ,  was  in  the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos, 

POR   THE    WORD    OP   GoD,  AND    FOR   THE    TESTIMONY    OP   JeSUS 

Christ." 

56.  "  Patmos,"  signifies,  isolation  and  separation.  The  man 
who  desires  to  become  celestial-natural,  that  is,  to  breathe  by 
influx  from  the  Lord,  through  the  Celestial  Heaven,  must  be 
isolated  from  all  ties  which  have  their  origin  and  action  in  the 
principle  of  self-love.  To  him  there  must  be  literally  no  coun- 
try ;  since  he  must  esteem  all  men,  of  whatever  race,  as  with 
an  equal  nearness,  brethren  and  friends.  To  him  also  there 
must  be  no  kindred,  in  the  principle  of  self-love;  he  must 
place  the  children  of  his  own  loins  at  an  equal  remove  from 
himself,  with  the  children  called  from  others ;  acting  and  doing 
toward  them  as  the  Lord*s  agent  of  benefaction,  guided  by 
Him.  Coming  out  of  all  personal  and  private  friendships,  in 
the  same  manner,  he  loves  companions,  but  as  the  Lord  loves 
in  and  through  him ;  dissociating  himself  from  them,  conjoin- 
ing himself  to  them,  ministering  or  ceasing  to  minister,  solely 


32  ABCANA    OF   ORBISTIANITT.  [chap.  t. 

by  direction  from  above.  The  state  whicli  lie  is  in  is  tben  called 
"  Patmos."  It  signifies  also  tlie  beginning  of  revelation,  con- 
tinued from  tbe  celestial  into  tbe  natural  mind. 

57.  '^  Jobn/^  signifies,  in  this  connection,  the  celestial  man, 
discreted  from  the  natural,  freed  from  all  the  inversive  move- 
ments of  a  disorderly  social  system,  disconnected  from  the 
world-soul  of  the  Earth,  and  present  by  perception  in  the 
Celestial  Heaven.  "  Who  also  am  your  brother,"  signifies, 
that  every  celestial  man,  caught  up  to  this  condition,  in  a 
new  solidarity,  becomes,  for  ends  of  mercy,  an  integral  mem- 
ber in  the  great  family  of  all  those  in  the  world,  who  are  in 
states  of  preparation  for  the  descent  of  the  Divine  respirations, 
into  the  natural  lungs. 

58.  There  will  arise  on  earth  a  Society  called  the  "  Brother- 
hood OP  THE  New  Life,"  internal  respiration  being  the  bond 
of  union  in  the  Lord.  In  Christian  and  Pagan  nations,  among 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  both  bond  and  free,  this  fraternity  will 
exist.  Whoever  becomes  a  Brother  of  the  New  Life,  through 
the  full  re-opening  of  the  respirations,  being  in  preparation  to 
become  a  living  human  tabernacle  of  Christ,  will  henceforth 
stand  to  the  Lord,  to  the  angels,  to  men,  to  evil  spirits,  in  re- 
lations radically  difierent  from  those  of  others. 

59.  When  the  Lord  has  re-opened  the  respiratories  of  any 
man,  and  continually  breathes,  by  His  Divine  Spirit,  through 
the  spiritual  into  the  natural  lungs,  the  laws  of  the  new  king- 
dom, which  is  righteousness  and  peace,  become  his  laws.  The 
time  passed  of  his  life  sufficeth  him  to  have  wrought  the  will  of 
the  gentiles.  The  constant  burden  of  his  aspiration  is.  Thy  will, 
O  Lord,  be  done.  He  bears  the  visible  fruit  of  the  angelic  life 
on  earth.  No  Spirit  can  be  bound,  except,  directly  or  mediately, 
through  those  who  have  passed  through  the  lesser  stages  of 
internal  respiration,  and  entered  into  the  first  of  its  greater 
stages ;  as  will  be  explained  in  another  place.  These  are  called 
"  kings  and  priests  to  God."  They  rule  through  total  self- 
abnegation,  and  minister  through  simple,  direct  obedience  to 
the  Lord.  Being  in  this  condition,  they  are  dependent,  for  a 
vital  breath,  upon  the  air  of  Heaven,  as  other  men  are  upon 
the  terrestrial  atmosphere ;  and  upon  the  food  of  Heaven,  as 
others  upon  daily  bread;  on  the  divine  guidance  through  the 


SEC.  57—61.]  THE   APOCALTPSK  33 


Inmost  Voice  flowing  into  and  quickening  tlie  super-rational 
judgment^  as  otliers  upon  the  rational  judgment;  and  con- 
sciously amenable  to  tlie  standards  of  tlie  Celestial  Society,  as 
others  to  the  tribunals  of  the  terrestrial  state.  This  is  the 
prospective  condition  of  the  New  Christendom,  wherein,  as  the 
Lord  declares,  all  things  shall  be  made  new. 

60.  "  Companion,^^  denotes,  that  no  isolation  will  exist  be- 
tween the  subjects  of  the  new  celestial  kingdom  of  our  Lord 
on  earth.  The  new  respirations,  imparting  a  simultaneous 
accordant  vibration  to  all  lungs,  will  attract,  through  the 
operation  of  a  Divine  affinity,  and  cement  the  bonds  of  a  per- 
fectly reliable  and  permanent  fraternity,  in  which  civil  discord 
will  be  impossible ;    except  as  some  may  fall. 

"  Companion  in  affliction,"  signifies,  that  the  new  celestial 
man  on  earth,  advancing  in  the  process  of  regeneration  through 
open  respiration,  will  take  upon  himself,  from  time  to  time, 
the  bodily  maladies  and  mental  distresses  of  his  brethren,  who 
are  following  on  in  the  pathway  of  newness.  "  In  the  king- 
dom and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ,"  (patient  expectation) 
signifies,  that  there  is  a  natural  kingdom  of  new  created 
divine  forms,  in  the  earth ;  and  that  the  man  of  the  new  age 
becomes  encompassed  by  them.  "  And  patience,^''  or  patient 
expectation,  signifies,  the  slowness  of  the  growth  of  the  celestial 
state,  in  men,  dm^ing  the  earlier  and  incipient  eras.  "  In  the 
isle  called  Patmos,  for  the  Word  of  God,"  signifies,  that  the 
object  of  isolation  from  the  invei'ted  movement  of  the  corrupt 
social  and  natural  order  in  the  world,  is  the  reception  of 
Christ,  who  is  called  the  Word,  and  who  becomes  inworlded 
anew,  through  the  open  respirations  of  His  people.  "  And  for 
the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,"  signifies,  the  proclamation  of 
the  Lord  in  the  divine  life  of  the  new  celestial  man,  which 
then  ensues.  These  are  the  lowest  significatives  in  the  ulti- 
mate sub-degree  of  the  celestial  sense ;  there  being  many  others 
which  are  higher. 

Chap.  i.  10. — "I  was  m  the  Spieit  on  the  Lord's  day,  and 

HEARD   BEHIND   ME    A   GREAT   VOICE,    AS    OF   A   TRUMPET." 

61.  '^I  was  in  the  Spirit,"  signifies,  that  the  natural  man, 
who  in  his  interiors,  is   celestial,  and  who  is  an  illustration  of 

c 


34  ARCANA    OF   GRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  t. 

tlie  Divine  Word,  may  receive  composite  respiration  (see  Nos. 
41  to  44),  and  through  composite  respiration,  may  tend  per- 
petually towards  ubiquity,  without  ever  becoming  ubiquitous ; 
may  be  at  once  in  the  three  Heavens,  and  in  the  five  worlds 
in  each,  from  internals  to  externals  of  each  of  their  proceeding 
and  encompassing  spheres.  He  may  also  be  present,  through 
the  same  state,  in  perceptional  knowledge,  in  the  earths  of  the 
universe,  through  a  respu-ation  in  any  of  the  world-souls,  to 
whose  breathing  he  has  become  habituated. 

62.  "  On  the  Lord's  day,''  signifies,  the  coronal  state  of 
respiration,  by  which  all  the  series  of  the  composite  breathings 
is  crowned  and  consummated  in  direct  respiration  from  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord.  "  And  heard,"  signifies,  that  there  is  an 
immediate  voice  of  the  Lord,  then  audible.  "  Behind  me," 
signifies,  that  this  divine  voice  penetrates  the  ganglions, 
through  the  point  of  junction  of  the  spine  and  the  base  of  the 
brain.  ^'  A  great  voice,"  signifies,  composite  utterance  of 
many  truths  in  one.  "As  of  a  trumpet,"  denotes  that  the 
auditory  nerves  are  made  in  an  ultimate  degree  the  vibratory 
media. 

Chap  i.  11. — "Saying,    I  am  Alpha   and    Omega,    the    first 

AND  THE  last  :  AND,  WhAT  THOU  SEEST,  WEITE  IN  A  BOOK, 
AND  SEND  IT  UNTO  THE  SEVEN  CHUECHES  WHICH  AEE  IN  AsiA  ; 
UNTO  EpHESUS,  and  UNTO  SmYENA,  AND  UNTO  PeEGAMOS, 
AND  UNTO  ThYATIRA,  AND  UNTO  SaEDIS,  AND  UNTO  PHILA- 
DELPHIA,   AND    UNTO    LaODICEA." 

63.  "  Saying,"  signifies,  that  our  Lord  speaks  directly  to 
the  inly  breathing  celestial  man,  as  well  as  intermediately 
through  the  Heavens.  "  I  am,"  signifies,  that  Jehovah  reveals 
Himself  in  that  degree  of  His  own  nature  which  corresponds  to 
the  celestial.  "  Alpha,"  signifies,  that  to  the  inmost  perceptions 
of  the  celestial  man,  the  celestial  in  Deity  is  revealed.  "  And 
Omega,"  signifies,  that  the  celestial  from  Deity  is  also  revealed 
to  the  utmost  ultimates.  "  The  first,"  signifies,  the  revelation 
of  the  celestial  principle  in  the  Divinity  of  the  Lord.  "  And 
the  last,"  signifies,  the  ultimate  revelation  of  the  celestial  prin- 
ciple, as  it  is  in  the  Humanity  of  our  Lord.  "  What  thou 
seest,"  signifies,  that  nothing  is  made  known  from  the  Divine 


SEC.  62—65.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  35 

through,  the  celestial^,  but  such  as  is  made  apparent  throuo-h 
open  perception  in  the  Word.  ^'  Write  in  a  book/^  signifies, 
that  the  things  which  are  inscribed  throughout  the  universes, 
in  the  harmonic  civilizations  of  the  new  order,  are  to  be  made 
known.  "  And  send  \t,"  signifies,  that  every  branch  of  the 
human  race  upon  the  earth,  through  oral  teaching,  must 
be  instructed  in  the  approximating  order  of  the  new  age. 
''  Unto  the  seven  churches,^^  signifies,  all  men ;  and  implies 
the  command  to  bear  this  Word  wheresoever  the  Lord  appoints, 
as  internally-breathing  men  are  quickened  to  exemplify  and 
communicate.  "  Churches,^'  signifies,  the  adaptation  of  the 
celestial  truths  of  the  Word  to  the  religious  principle  in  man, 
rather  than  to  the  natural  scientific  principle.  "  Which  are," 
signifies,  that  the  seven  churches  in  a  seven-fold  series  of 
organic  planes  in  the  human  constitution,  according  to  the 
seven  special  types  of  the  new  humanity,  may  become  estab- 
lished with  every  human  being.  "  In  Asia,"  signifies,  that 
these  organic  conditions  pre-exist  in  that  most  ancient  part  in 
man,  which  constitutes  the  inmost  germ,  and  which  is  extant, 
prior  to  natural  generation,  and  which  descends  through  the 
heavens.     See  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  343. 

64.  "  Ephesus,"  signifies,  the  inmost  state  of  the  celestial 
man  also ;  and  refers  to  a  new  church  to  be  established  on 
earth,  to  consist  of  those,  who,  besides  being  in  the  supreme 
good  of  love,  shall  respire  continually  through  the  Celestial 
Heaven,  and  shall  be  called  celestial-natural  men.  ''  Smyrna," 
refers  to  a  second  church,  to  be  established,  and  to  consist  of 
men  who  shall  respire  through  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  and  who 
shall  be  grounded  principally  in  the  truths  which  pertain  to 
the  good  of  love.  "  Pergamos,"  refers  to  a  third  church,  also 
to  take  a  place  in  this  series,  whose  members  shall  be  such  as 
respire  through  the  Ultimate  Heaven.  Ephesus,  Smyrna,  and 
Pergamos  form  a  trine. 

65.  ''  Thyatha  "  typifies  a  fourth  church,  to  consist  of  those 
who  shall  possess  respiration,  continued  from  the  Celestial 
Heaven  through  the  world-souls,  and  who  shall  especially  be 
versed  in  the  arts,  sciences,  and  knowledges  of  order,  estab- 
lished upon  those  earths  of  the  universe,  whose  inhabitants 
represent  most  fully,  in  time  and  space,  the  qualities  of  the 

c  2 


36  AECANA    OF   CHBISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

Celestial  Heaven.  In  like  manner^  ''  Sardis/'  refers  to  a  fifth 
churclij  to  be  composed  of  a  type  of  mankind  whose  respiration 
shall  be  continued  from  the  Spiritual  Heaven  through  the  world- 
souls.  Of  them^  it  may  be  said,  that,  having  access  to  the 
types  of  harmonic  civilization,  established  upon  unfallen 
worlds,  which  represent  the  splendours  of  truth  pertaining  to 
the  Spiritual  Heaven,  they  shall  be  pre-eminently  wise  in  the 
composite  sciences.  The  signification  of  "  Philadelphia,"  is  a 
sixth  church,  composed  of  members  of  the  human  family  who 
respire  from  the  Ultimate  Heaven  through  the  world-souls.  So 
great  is  the  strength  put  forth  from  the  Ultimate  Heaven,  that 
those  worlds  of  the  universe,  peculiarly  under  its  influence,  are 
peopled  by  races  combining  titanic  powers  with  the  most  joy- 
ous fulness  of  sensation.  In  this  church  will  take  place  the 
perpetual  nuptials  of  industry  and  love.  The  three  churches, 
Thyatira,  Sardis,  and  Philadelphia,  constitute  a  second  trine. 

66.  "  Laodicea,"  signifies,  the  fulness  of  humanity :  a 
church  which  shall  be  the  crown  of  all  others,  composed  of  an 
artistic  race,  respiring  in  the  composite  order  through  the 
three  Heavens,  mth  respirations  continued  through  the  world- 
souls.  So  great  will  be  the  heats  evolved  through  the  endless 
nuptials  of  Divine  charity  and  truth  in  the  constitutions  of 
these  inly-breathing  men  among  the-  Afi'ican  tribes,  that  the 
present  sable  complexion  of  the  features  will  disappear,  and 
the  organization  be  entirely  reconstituted  in  a  new  outline  of 
symmetry,  in  which  the  hue  will  be  a  golden  redness,  resembling 
that  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  orb  Polyhymnia.  For  particulars 
of  this  orb,  see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  607—618. 

Chap.  i.  12. — ''''And  I  tuened  to  see  the  voice  that  spake 
WITH  ME.  And  being  turned,  I  SAW  SEVEN  golden  candle- 
sticks.-'^ 

67.  The  Divine  fires  which  penetrate  the  human  system,  in 
the  stages  which  precede  the  re-opening  of  the  respiratories,  are 
injected  into  the  system  at  the  junction  of  the  spinal  column 
with  the  base  of  the  cerebellum.  '^  And  I  turned,"  signifies, 
the  gradual  inclination  of  the  face  of  the  celestial  man,  as  he  is 
by  degrees  di-awn  aside  by  the  inflowing  and  action  of  these 
fires,  from  conformity  to  the  inverted  social  and  natural  order 


SEC.  66—68.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  37 

of  the  world.  ''  To  see  tlie  voice/-'  signifies,  that  this  turning 
is  to  a  state  of  perception,  in  which  the  words  spoken  in  the 
ear  of  the  understanding,  are  apparent  in  the  divine  sky  as 
representative  images. 

68.  "  That  spake  with  me/'  signifies,  that,  being  turned,  the 
Divine  voice  now  penetrates  into  the  inmost  places  of  the  under- 
standing of  the  man,  awakening  the  dormant  aflections  of  good 
and  truth,  which,  since  the  days  of  first  infancy,  have  been  ren- 
dered inert,  and  made  seemingly  dead  through  the  corruptions 
of  the  world.  These  human  affections  of  innocence  are  in  the 
human  form,  and  come  forth  from  the  deep  places  of  the  will, 
as  from  their  graves,  when  they  hear  the  Divine  Voice.  "  And 
being  turned,^^  signifies,  the  new  state  of  the  celestial  man, 
clothed  with  a  fay  sphere,  and  with  the  loves  of  innocence  that 
had  become  inert  within  him  restored  to  life.  "  I  saw/^  sia;- 
nifies,  the  degree  of  illumination  possessed  by  the  celestial 
man,  extending  from  the  knowledge  of  atomic  men,  who  are 
the  leasts  of  forms,  through  the  fay  series,  and  the  human 
series,  and  through  the  series  of  the  world-souls  to  the  series 
of  composite  humanities  of  universes  and  of  heavens.  It  sig- 
nifies also  the  knowledges,  which  are  derived  from  these,  all 
of  which  are  contained  within  the  Word.  "  Seven,"  signifies, 
the  series,  composed  as  follows.  First,  atomic  men ;  second, 
fay  races ;  third,  human  races  of  earths  and  suns ;  fourth, 
world-souls  and  universe-souls ;  fifth,  angels  of  the  Ultimate 
Heaven  and  composite  angelhoods  and  archangelhoods  therein ; 
sixth,  angels  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven  and  composite  angelhoods 
and  archangelhoods  therein;  seventh,  angels  of  the  Celestial 
Heaven,  and  composite  angelhoods  and  archangelhoods  there- 
in. "  Golden,''^  signifies,  that,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest 
of  the  series,  the  Divine  Love  is  supreme,  and  nothing  within 
them  inclined  from  or  opposed  to  life,  order,  and  blessedness ; 
but  that  they  form  a  unity  of  harmony  in  the  Divine  Word. 
"  Candlestick,"  signifies,  that  from  the  least  to  the  greatest  of 
this  stupendous  and  universal  series,  its  members  are  aU  organs 
for  an  illumination  from  the  Lord. 

Chap.  i.  13. — '''Ajsd  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  candlesticks 
oke  like  unto  the  son  op  man,  clothed  with  a  garment 


38  ABGANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [cirAP.  i. 

DOWN  TO  THE  TOOT^  AND  GIRT  ABOUT  THE  TAPS  WITH  A  GOLDEN 
GIRDLE.'^ 

69.  "  In  tlio  midst  of  the  seven  candlesticks/'  signifies,  the 
universal  form  in  the  interiors  of  each  and  every  unit  of  the 
seven-fold  series  of  the  created  human  forms.  "  In  the  midst 
one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man/'  signifies,  that  the  Divine 
Humanity,  as  now  visible  to  the  perceptions  of  the  illumined 
celestial  man,  infills  the  inmosts,  actually,  in  every  atomic 
man,  every  fay  man,  and  every  unfallen  human  creature  of  the 
earths  and  suns,  the  entire  harmonic  series  of  the  world-souls, 
and  universe-souls,  and  every  angel,  and  composite  angel- 
hood, and  archangelhood,  throughout  the  trine  of  the  universal 
Heavens.  "  Clothed,''  signifies,  that  our  Lord  is  visible  in  the 
midst  of  a  sphere,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  all  these  things, 
and  which  is  proceeding  from  Himself.  "  With  a  garment " 
(with  a  long  garment),  signifies,  that  He  is  enveloped  in  this 
universal  sphere.  He  is  thus  made  known  as  the  Messiah  of 
worlds.  "Girt  about  the  paps  with  a  golden  girdle,"  signifies, 
a  zone,  which  is  apparent,  proceeding  from  Himself,  which  is 
to  succeed  the  present  order  of  the  universe,  and  which  con- 
tains, in  first  principles,  a  new  sidereal  creation. 

Chap.  i.  14. — "  His    head  and   Ris  hairs  were  white   like 

WOOL,  AS    white   as    SNOW  j    AND   HiS   EYES    WERE  AS  A  FLAME 
OE   EIRE." 

70.  ^' His  head,"  signifies,  that  in  the  Divine  human  reason  of 
the  Lord,  is  contained  a  new  creation  of  the  threefold  Heaven, 
celestial,  spiritual,  and  natural ;  which  shall  sustain  the  same 
relation  to  the  present  Heaven,  that  the  Divine  since  the 
assumption  of  the  human,  sustains  to  the  Divine  before  that 
assumption.  "  And  His  hair,"  signifies,  the  spirals  of  rays  from 
His  Divine  intelligence,  in  which  systems  of  systems,  in  their 
archetypes,  are  seen  proceeding  forth.  "  White  like  wool,  as 
white  as  snow,"  signifies,  conjoined  with  hair,  the  spiracles 
proceeding  from  the  spirals,  in  which  the  new  system  of  a 
threefold  Heaven,  containing  universes,  is  seen  projected  into 
the  space  which  is  above  space  beyond  the  present  Celestial 
Heaven.     "And  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,"  signifies. 


SEC.  69—72.]  THJE   APOCALYPSE.  39 

a  twofold  river  of  all-creative  lights  proceeding  through  the 
Divine  human  reason  of  His  Divine  Humanity. 

Chap.  i.  15. — '^'^And  His  feet  like  unto  eine  beass^  as  ip  they 
burned  in  a  euenace  ;  and  his  voice  as  the  sound  op 
many  waters.-'' 

71.  '^''And  His  feet  like  unto  fine  brass/'  denotes,  a  Natural 
Heaven,  discreted  from  the  present  Natural  Heaven ;  upbear- 
ing a  Spiritual  Heaven,  discreted  from  the  present  Spiritual 
Heaven ;  and  this  upbearing  a  Celestial  Heaven,  discreted 
from  the  present  Celestial  Heaven ;  and  successively  to  appear. 
"As  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace,''  signifies,  the  exceeding 
glory  from  the  Divine  Humanity,  in  which  these  Heavens  are 
to  shine.  "'  And  His  voice  as  the  sound  (voices)  of  many 
waters,"  signifies,  the  proceeding  of  the  new  creation  into  the 
old  creation. 

Chap.  i.  16. — "And  He  had  in  His  right  hand  seven  stars  : 
AND  OUT  OP  His  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged  swoed  : 
AND  His   countenance    was  as   the    sun  shineth  in  his 

STRENGTH." 

72.  "And  He  had,"  signifies,  that  the  life  of  all  the  forms  of 
the  new  creation  was  within  the  Lord.  "In  His  right' hand," 
signifies,  seven  states  of  regeneration  for  the  men  of  the 
new  order  upon  the  harmonic  orbs,  corresponding  in  glory  to 
the  states  of  regeneration  given  to  men  before  the  intro- 
duction of  evil  into  the  universe,  as  the  visible  glory  of 
the  Divine  Humanity  corresponds  to  the  manifested  glory  of 
the  Divine,  before  our  Lord  assumed  the  human.  "And  out 
of  His  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged  sword,"  signifies,  the 
penetration  of  the  influx  from  the  Lord  to  the  extremest 
points  of  matter  in  creation;  so  that,  from  the  suns  to  the 
obscurest  earths  it  shall  be  resplendent  with  a  communicated 
Divine,  unknown  to  the  pre-existent  orbs  of  space.  "And 
His  countenance,"  signifies,  that  the  internals  of  the  faces  of 
all  the  forms,  in  which  the  Son  of  man  appears,  from  those  of 
the  atomic  men  to  those  of  the  composite  archangelhoods  of 
the  Celestial  Heaven,  shall  each  be  made,  in  its  degree,  a 
medium    for  the    beaming    forth  of  the   countenance   of  the 


40  AliCANA    OF   CHRISTIAN  ITT.  [chap,  i 

Divine  Love ;  so  tliat  Infinite  Love  shall  gaze  upon  its  tmi- 
verse,  in  degrees  of  tlie  benignity  and  tlie  resplendency  of 
beauty,  corresponding  to  tlie  lieart-wants  of  all  creatures  from 
tlie  greatest  to  the  least.  "  As  the  sun  shineth  in  his 
strength/'  signifies,  that  the  lustre  of  the  Divine  Humanity 
shall  envelope  the  space-orb  (see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  344),  and  the 
centre  sun  of  the  universal  creation  (see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  465), 
with  a  glory  of  shining  which  shall  be  as  the  glory  of  the 
Divine  Humanity  increasing  to  eternity,  compared  to  the 
visible  glory  of  the  Divine  Presence  in  nature,  before  the  as- 
sumption of  the  human.  Thence  this  glory  shall  be  distributed, 
through  the  series  of  the  suns,  to  the  last  solar  orb,  and  thence 
to  every  terrestrial  and  aromal  world.  Of  the  increase  of  His 
dominion  shall  be  no  end.     Amen. 

Chap.  i.  17. — "And  when  I  saw  Him,  I  fell  at  His  feet  as 
DEAD.  And  He  laid  His  eight  hand  upon  me,  saying  unto 
me.  Fear  not  ;  I  am  the  fiest  and  the  last.'''' 
73.  "  And  when  I  saw  Him,''  signifies,  the  revelation  of  the 
Lord,  in  His  glorified  Divine  Humanity,  with  the  first  princi- 
ples of  His  new  creation,  in  the  interiors  of  the  universal  series 
of  His  sentient,  imjsersonal,  and  intelligent  personal  creatures, 
spoken  of  before.  "^I  saw  Him,"  signifies.  His  visibility  in 
the  new  creation  to  all  sentient  impersonal,  and  intellectual 
personal  creatures  in  the  series.  It  also  signifies,  that  He  was 
■visible  to  the  composite  perception  of  the  universal  heavenly 
and  the  universal  cosmical  creature.  "  Saw,"  signifies,  that 
they  were  in  perception  from  love.  "I  fell,"  signifies,  that 
no  sentient  impersonal,  or  intellectual  personal  creature,  was 
able  to  maintain  the  harmony  of  motion  and  thence  of  sensa- 
tion and  intelligence,  in  which  it  previously  existed ;  but  that, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  advent  of  the  new  creation  in  the 
inmosts  of  forms,  the  ancient  harmony  of  the  universe  began 
to  cease.  In  corroboration,  I  may  here  adduce  a  statement 
from  many  angels,  to  the  effect,  that,  when  the  Lord,  in  His 
new  creation,  began  to  appear  in  their  interiors,  a  new  order 
of  respiration  inflowed.  So  great  was  the  inflowing,  that  a 
sea  of  light  deluged  them,  in  the  midst  of  which,  overwhelmed, 
they  fell  prostrate.     "At  His  feet,"  signifies,  that,  when  the 


SEC.  73—74.]  TSE   AP0GALTF8K  41 

new  creation  appeared^  in  tlie  interiors  of  tlie  creatures,  im- 
personal and  personal,  slumber  ensued  as  to  inmost  conscious- 
ness as 'upon  Adam  in  paradise.  It  also  signifies  that  this  was 
beneath,  the  Lord,  who  ruled  above  it  absolutely,  causino- 
modifying,  and  determining  all  its  states  and  their  issues.  ''As 
dead,'^  signifies,  the  total  suppression  of  inmost  consciousness 
during  that  which  followed, — namely,  the  insemination  of  the 
new  creation,  in  its  forms,  in  the  substance  of  the  creatures. 

74.  "  And  He  laid  His  right  hand  upon  me,^''  signifies,  the  in- 
finite reviving  potency  of  the  Lord,  at  the  end  of  sleep.  "  Saying 
unto  me,"  signifies,  the  unveiling  of  an  inmost  sense  of  the  Word, 
in  the  inmost  of  the  Celestial  Heaven,  and  thence  a  new  unfold- 
ing, from  the  internals  of  the  Word,  in  all  Heavens,  and  from 
this  a  new  unfolding  from  the  internals  of  the  Word  through- 
out the  solar  and  sidereal  universe,  containing  declarations 
from  causes  to  ultimates,  of  the  new  order  that  was  to  appear. 
It  also  signifies  a  new  inmost  Divine  voice,  as  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  in  His  divine  humanity  to  that  of  the  Divine  utterance 
before  the  assumption  of  the  human.  Of  the  ravishing  sweet- 
ness of  this  new  voice  it  is  impossible  to  speak,  because  it  is 
incommunicable.  It  also  signifies,  the  universality  of  the 
revelation,  concerning  the  new  creation,  through  the  Heavens 
and  through  the  solar  and  planetary  systems.  "Fear  not," 
signifies,  new  arcana  then  unfolded,  as  a  love  revelation  of 
the  Supreme  Infinite.  This  descended  through  the  silent 
and  interinvolved  feminine  person,  in  the  composite  oneness 
of  the  angelic  conjugial  tie.  It  became  a  speaking  voice, 
through  illustrative  angelic  men  and  their  consorts.  "  I  am 
the  first,"  signifies,  a  new  unfolding  of  the  Word,  full  of  know- 
ledges concerning  the  new  creation,  which  descended  in  the 
manner  spoken  of  before  through  the  inmost  Spiritual  Heaven 
to  all  of  its  degrees.  "  And  the  last,"  signifies,  a  new  unveil- 
ing of  composite  civilizations,  from  the  internal  of  the  Word, 
descending  from  the  supreme  degree  of  the  Ultimate  Heaven 
through  all  its  empires  and  their  provinces. 

Chap.  i.  18. — " I  am  He  that  liveth,  and    was  dead;  and, 

BEHOLD,  I   AM   ALIVE    FOR    EVERMORE,  AmEN  ;      AND  HAVE  THE 
KEYS    OP    HELL   AND    OF    DEATH." 


42  ABOANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [cnAP.  i. 

75.  "  Hg  that  livctli/^  signifies,  the  Infinite  I  Am.  '^And 
was  dead/'  signifies,  the  composite  humanity  which  He  assumed 
in  the  Incarnation ;  in  which  the  former  harmony  of  the  uni- 
verse, being  centred,  was  made  extinct  and  passed  away. 
"  Behold  I  am  alive  for  evermore,^'  signifies,  the  universal 
harmony  in  the  structures  of  the  divine  human  form  of  the 
Lord,  in  which  He  victoriously  proceeds  to  the  new  creation. 
"  Amen,^^  signifies  the  praises  of  the  creature  in  the  descent 
of  the  new  harmony ;  and  also  the  conjunction  in  that  praise 
of  the  Lord  with  His  creatures.  "Keys,"  signifies  the  loosen- 
ing power  resulting  from  the  incarnation  of  the  Lord,  by 
means  of  which  to  bring  deliverance  to  the  spirits  of  the  pri- 
mates and  the  ultimates  now  involved  in  nature ;  which,  had 
evil  not  been  introduced,  would  have  been  inwrought  into  the 
ultimate  degree  of  the  angelic  body  of  the  ascended  man. 
See  A.  of  C.  1,  L  489.  "  Keys  of  hell,''  signifies  the  ability 
of  the  Lord,  through  His  Incarnation,  to  revive  the  atomic 
spirits,  iuAvi'Ought  into  the  present  constitution  of  the  lost 
human  spirits  of  our  orb ;  and  in  recombining  them  in  new 
forms,  to  cause  them  to  serve  the  ends  of  a  new  creation  of 
human  spirits,  to  stand  in  the  places  of  such  as,  through  sin, 
shall  have  passed  away.  "  The  keys  of  death,''  signifies,  the 
deliverance,  through  the  same  process  of  the  atomic  spirits,  at 
present  inwrought  into  the  structures  of  the  bodies  of  the  de- 
mons of  the  lost  orb  ;  and  their  new  combinations  in  the  bodies 
of  a  human  race,  who  shall  replace  in  the  universe  that  which 
fell.     See  A.  of  C.  ],L  717. 


Chap.  i.  19. — "Weite  the  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and 

THE   things   which   ARE,    AND    THE    THINGS    WHICH    SHALL   BE 
HEEEAETEE." 

76.  "Things  seen,"  is  the  mystery  of  iniquity;  in  other 
words,  the  false  creation  of  subterfuges  and  deceits;  which 
the  demons  of  the  lost  orb,  in  their  series  grouped  about  their 
pivotal  chief,  inflowing  into  the  minds  of  the  lost  spirits  of  the 
three  hells  of  the  planet  Earth,  in  the  last  times,  will  endeavour 
to  inseminate  into  the  spirits  and  bodies  of  our  world's  inhabit- 
ants. 


SEC.  75—79-]  TRE   APOCALTFSE.  43 


THIED  ILLTJSTEATION. 

The  world-soul  of  the  Earth,  and  mysteries  therein. — English  plutocrats  and 
dignitaries  in  the  World  of  Spirits. 

77.  At  tlie  present  time^  tlie  world-soul  of  our  orb,  to  angelic 
vision,  is  perceived  pierced  with  many  wounds,  and  bleeding 
therefrom.  She  is  supported  by  the  world- soul  of  the  planet 
Mars,  and  the  two  are  interknit  through  the  conjunction  of 
attributes.  I  was  conducted  to  the  earth  Mars,  in  spirit,  and 
there  beheld  a  representation  of  the  wounded  world-soul ;  the 
spirits  of  African  nations  in  her  brain,  of  European  nations  in 
her  lungs,  of  Mahommedans  in  the  loins,  and  of  Asiatics  in 
the  principal  organs  of  the  viscera;  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in 
Australia  and  America  in  the  right  and  left  arms.  She  is 
crippled  in  her  extremities  and  impotent.  Her  limbs  are 
shrivelled,  because  the  races  which  should  have  been  placed 
within  them  are  non-existent  through  sin. 

78.  I  was  surprised  to  observe  that  the  African  race  occupied 
a  position  within  the  cerebrum  and  cerebellum;  but  soon 
observed  the  reason.  At  the  present  time  the  dormant  intel- 
lectual organs  of  the  African  people  are  replete  with  stored-up 
germs  of  the  most  sublime  arts,  sciences,  philosophies,  and  in- 
ventions, in  first  principles.  A  new  creation  is  literally  exist- 
ing there ;  and  that  race  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  lowest 
upon  the  earth,  is  really  the  highest  from  the  stand-point  of 
the  Celestial  Heaven.  The  world-soul  holds  this  afflicted 
people  quiescent ;  and  will  not  suffer  them  to  be  subjected  to 
the  processes,  by  means  of  which  an  inversive  civilization  is 
developed  elsewhere.  Spiritually  the  African  is  the  most 
inoffensive  of  all  Earth^s  inhabitants ;  and  the  most  easily 
elevated  into  angelhood  after  the  decease  of  the  body. 

79.  The  World-Soul  cried,  '^  See  how  I  am  wounded  in  the 
house  of  my  friends  ;"  and,  looking  into  her  breast,  I  beheld 
European  nations  therein,  engaged  in  deadly  war.  Europe,  at 
the  present  moment,  is  one  festering  ulcer,  offensive  to  God 
and  abominable  to  all  good  men.  The  Anglo-Saxon  race  is 
rapidly  exhausting  its  stored-up  vitality,  and,  spider-like, 
spinning  away  its  own  bowels.  Its  present  use  is  to  open  the 
way  for  the  new  civilization,  by  applying  the  results  of  science 


44  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

to  the  consolidation  of  tlio  peoples^  tlirougli  trade  and  com- 
merce, into  one  body.  The  mainspring  of  its  motive  is  an  in- 
tense ambition,  and  its  purpose  is  to  monopolize  tlie  world's 
wealth  for  the  aggrandizement  of  industrial  chiefs,  to  whom 
the  artisan  who  produces,  and  the  remote  barbarian  who  pur- 
chases his  commodities,  are  less  precious  than  the  merest 
dross. 

80.  I  saw  one  resembling  Richard  Arkwright  in  the  World 
of  Spirits,  wringing  his  hands,  and  crying,  "  Woe  is  me,  woe 
is  me.  Gold  is  misery  !  "  He  is  wasted  away  at  his  extremi- 
ties, so  that  his  hands  and  feet  appear  to  be  those  of  a  skeleton. 
The  base  of  his  brain  has  fallen  in,  but  the  organs  of  calcula- 
tion project  like  horns  over  his  eyes.  The  development  of  the 
abdomen  and  stomach  is  enormous,  and  they  are  covered  with 
leprous  sores.  I  drew  near  him ;  his  meanings  were  piteous 
in  the  extreme.  He  was  calling  for  water  to  cool  his  parched 
tongue,  and  an  image  as  of  a  ragged  artisan  stood  at  his  right 
hand,  out  of  a  golden  goblet  pouring  liquid  fire.  He  cursed 
me  for  an  "  agrarian  '^  and  "  leveller,^'  as  I  drew  near,  say- 
ing that  "  I  wished  to  impoverish  his  family,  and  reduce  them 
to  the  necessity  of  toil.^^     It  was  a  most  woeful,  pitiable  sight. 

81.  I  saw  a  certain  English  spirit,  who,  on  earth,  dm'ing  the 
life  of  the  body,  had  rolled  in  riches,  acquired  in  cotton  spin- 
ning. This  man's  conduct,  while  in  the  flesh,  had  been  most 
brutal  and  murderous  to  those  in  his  employ.  He  had  not 
hesitated,  though  enormously  opulent,  to  rob  the  operatives  in 
his  service  of  much  of  their  miserable  pittance,  under  a  variety 
of  dishonest  pretexts,  known  to  those  in  that  trade.  He  sits 
in  a  massive  carved  seat,  which  he  cannot  leave.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  habit  of  griping  and  extortion,  which  he 
cherished  on  earth,  his  bowels  there  have  become  knotted  and 
strangulated,  and,  in  portions,  hard  as  corrugated  iron.  He 
hugs  the  insanity  that  he  is  a  rich  man  still ;  and  dreams  of 
paintings,  pineries,  of  court  preferment,  and  the  prudent  dis- 
position of  a  vast  income  perpetually  on  the  increase.  He  is 
tormented  incessantly  by  fears  of  robbers,  who,  as  he  im- 
agines, seek  to  kill  him  for  his  gold.  His  cheeks  are  loathsome 
and  livid,  and  myriads  of  creeping  things  have  their  habitation 
within  his  breast.     The  fiery  face  of  this  spii-it  I  never  shall 


SEC.  80—84.]  TSE   APOCALYPSE.  45 

forget,  tlie  knit  brows,  the  gathered,  but  hound-like  lips,  the 
masses  of  coarse,  iron-grey  hair  heaped  upon  the  brow. 

82.  I  saw  another  who  had  lived  not  remote  from  AVolver- 
hampton,  England;  a  mighty  man  on  earth,  with  thews  and 
sinews  like  a  bullock.  He  cried  aloud  that  "his  sons  had 
robbed  him,  cast  him  out  of  his  mansion,  and  driven  him  dis- 
guised to  excavate  coal.^^  This  was  his  fantasy.  I  saw, 
perhaps,  three  hundred  spirits,  all  of  them,  on  earth,  possessors 
of  estates  acquired  in  the  same  manner;  but  here,  in  the  re- 
verse of  conditions,  dwelling  in  a  barren  moor,  without  a  green 
leaf  to  diversify  its  steaming  cinerated  surface.  Their  habita- 
tions are  volcanic  hovels,  excavated  apparently  in  the  midst  of 
the  refuse  of  furnaces.  One  invited  me  to  dine  with  him.  I 
asked  him  where  his  food  was,  and  he  replied,  ''  See, my  servants 
have  prepared  a  banquet.^'  Before  him  was  what  resembled  a 
perforated  mass  of  slag,  on  which  were  objects  that  appeared 
like  newts,  slugs,  and  other  reptiles.  These  he  devoured  with 
greedy  voracity,  his  manners  being  those  of  a  beast.  A  pitchy 
liquor  exuded  from  the  bituminous  rocks  at  his  left  hand,  which 
he  drank. 

83.  I  saw,  in  conjunction  with  them,  a  divine,  who  had  been 
a  pluralist,  and  a  prime  favourite  at  the  court  of  George  IV. 
To  him  religion  had  been  a  stalking-horse.  A  godless  sensual- 
ist in  heart,  his  chief  end  in  life  had  been  to  obtain  prefer- 
ments by  flatteries  of  the  great.  The  hardness  of  heart,  which 
he  had  cherished  on  earth,  had  literally,  in  the  spiritual  world, 
oozed  through  his  members,  and  petrified  them,  so  that  his 
feet  and  lower  limbs  seemed  cased  immovably  in  solid  rock. 
Still  attired  in  the  garments  of  religion,  he  seemed  a  living 
monument.  Upon  a  blasted  tree  at  his  left  were  three  croak- 
ing vultures ;  they  flew  as  I  disturbed  them,  and  concealed 
themselves  in  the  cavern  of  his  bosom.  As  I  drew  near,  he 
shouted  that  his  three  gods  were  angry  with  me-  The  obscene 
birds  then  flew  forth  and  disappeared. 

84.  I  saw  a  miseress ;  a  titled  lady,  of  great  rank,  also  of 
a  recent  period.  Her  position  had  been  such  that  she  had 
been  enabled  to  control  the  bestowment  of  preferments  and 
pensions.  She  wore  a  head-dress  of  owls'  feathers,  and  her 
countenance  had  become  owlish  in  its  aspect.    The  nose  horned 


46  ABCAI^A    OF   CEBI8TIANITT.  [chap.  i. 

and  hooked  like  a  hcak,  and  the  eyes  like  those  of  a  spiteful 
cat.  Her  breasts  had  been  extirpated  through  her  crimes. 
She  sat  counting  bits  of  pumice,,  which,  in  her  madness^  she 
esteemed  diamonds.  One  drew  nigh  with  the  grimace  of  a 
courtier^  and  presented  her  with  more  of  this  substance.  She 
patted  him  at  this,  on  the  right  shoulder,  with  something  that 
resembled  a  fan,  and  promised  to  intercede  in  his  behalf,  that 
he  might  receive  accession  of  dignity,  and  become  an  earl. 

85.  "'  By  things  which  are,"  is  signified  the  planet  Mars, 
in  the  world-soul  whereof  arc  stored  up  vast  treasures  of  in- 
crements, from  the  three  Heavens,  which,  as  pollen,  when  it  is 
wafted  from  flower  to  flower,  are  designed,  in  the  opening  of 
internal  respiration,  to  impregnate  the  internals  of  the  celestial- 
natural  faculties  upon  om'  earth ;  concerning  which,  more  in 
another  place.  "  And  the  things  which  shall  be  hereafter," 
signifies,  the  insemination  of  the  regenerate  humanity  on  earth, 
with  the  beautiful  joys  in  the  bosoms  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
planet  Mars;  a  sinless  and  holy  people.  These  joys  are  celes- 
tial in  their  character,  and  descend  into  the  natural. 

Chap  i.  20. — "  The  mystery  oe  the  seven  staks  which  thou 
sawest  in  my  right  hand,  and  the  seven  golden  candle- 
STICKS.    The  SEVEN  stars  are  the  angels  op  the  seven 

CHURCHES  :      and    THE      SEVEN     CANDLESTICKS     WHICH     THOU 
SAWEST  ARE  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES." 

86.  By  "  mystery,"  in  this  verse,  is  signified,  celestial  arcana 
concerning  the  spirits  of  the  attributes  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Divine  Humanity.  "  Of  the  seven  stars,"  signifies,  arcana 
concerning  seven  types  of  attributal  men,  so  called,  to  appear 
on  earth.  Of  these  men,  it  is  permitted  now  to  state  that  they 
shall  be  celestial-natural,  spiritual-natural,  and  of  the  third 
heaven  continued  into  the  natural,  making  one  trine.  Of  solar 
men,  aromal  men,  and  terrestrial  men,  a  second  trine.  And 
of  Children  of  the  Ray  (See  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  530),  Children 
of  the  Shadow  (see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  529,  631  and  sequel),  and 
Childi'en  of  the  Wave,  a  third  trine. 

87.  It  is  also  permitted  to  mention  seven  particulars,  where- 
in attributal  men  are  invested  with  pre-eminent  royalty.     To 


SEC.  85—89.]  TSE   APOCALYPSE.  47 

the  first  type  are  entrusted  the  seasons ;  they  have  power  to 
determine  the  new  types  of  vegetation.  To  the  second  type 
is  entrusted  respiration.  Through  their  openness  to  the  Lord 
they  are  media  for  the  descent  of  new  respirative  conditions  to 
mankind.  The  third  class  preside  over  waters  and  floods ; 
and  the  powers  in  them  from  the  Lord_,  determine  the  currents 
of  celestial^  spiritual^  and  ultimate  heavenly  influx,  by  means 
of  which  the  water  streams  and  springs  themselves  are  sur- 
charged with  qualities  from  the  three  Heavens,  promotive  of 
health,  longevity,  and  new  vital  conditions,  both  for  animals 
and  men.  The  fourth  have  power  over  marine  animals,  and 
the  finny  tribes  in  general ;  determining  the  decease  and  dis- 
appearance of  inverted  species,  the  purification  and  re-creation 
of  those  which  are  orderly,  and  their  distribution  throughout 
the  waters  of  the  globe. 

88.  The  fifth  preside  over  the  universal  fauna  of  the  planet ; 
they  are  charged  with  the  oflS.ce  of  the  distribution  of  influx 
into  the  natural  degree,  by  means  of  which  the  animal  races 
are  to  be  demagnetised  from  the  hellish  poisons  which  have 
inflowed  from  human  and  spiritual  disorders,  and,  in  fine, 
their  progressive  elevation  to  a  new  Edenic  state.  The  sixth 
have  power  over  decay,  and  ability  from  the  Lord  to  extir- 
pate death-producing  larvee  from  soils,  waters,  systems,  and 
atmospheres.  The  seventh  have  power  over  death;  and,  as 
agents  in  the  Divine  hand,  to  add  years,  through  the  imparta- 
tion  of  a  quickening  spirit,  to  the  life- duration  of  the  human 
natural  form.  "Which  thou  sawest,^'  signifies,  attributal 
men  in  the  suns  and  in  the  terrestrial  and  aromal  planets. 


rOUETH  ILLUSTEATION. 

Attributal  men  in  the  planet  Jupiter,  and  works  performed  by  tliem. 

89.  I  saw  an  attributal  man  of  the  first  type  on  the  orb 
Jupiter;  one  of  that  race  mentioned  in  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  142-149. 
I  was  with  him  for  several  days  of  their  time,  as  to  the  spirit, 
and  our  breaths  were  as  one.  Being  conscious,  in  his  interiors, 
that  I  was  present  with  him  in  my  ofiice  as  an  interpreter  of 
the  celestial  mysteries  of  the  Word,  he  executed  many  things. 


48  ARCANA    OF   CHBISTIANITY.  [chap.  i. 

some  of  wliicli  I  hero  relate.  A  fruit-tree  grew  in  a  series 
witli  many  others  in  the  open  air.  It  became  covered  with 
ripe  figs  in  about  the  space  of  twenty-four  hours^  while  those 
in  its  vicinity,  in  leaf  at  the  same  time,  hardly  changed  as  to 
the  appearance  of  their  fruit.  It  was  effected  by  a  determi- 
nation of  heavenly  influxes  into  the  natural.  The  tree  was  not 
injured  by  the  process,  but  rather  enhanced  in  its  fruit-bear- 
ing properties.  I  was  informed  by  him  that  fruit-trees,  which 
ordinarily  produced  but  one  crop  in  the  season,  might  bear 
seven,  when  disposed  for  that  purpose  under  the  influence  of 
the  vitalising  elements  descending  from  the  Lord,  when  dis- 
tributed through  this  type  of  attributal  men. 

90.  Another  tree  was  then  shown  me,  producing  an  egg- 
shaped  fruit,  partaking  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  the  peach, 
and  like  that  in  size.  He  showed  me  the  process,  by  means 
of  which,  one  branch,  selected  from  others,  by  the  determina- 
tion of  a  peculiar  influx  thereto,  produced  a  delicious  quality 
of  the  species,  more  than  seven  times  as  large. 

91.  For  a  third  illustration,  he  caused  me  to  perceive,  that, 
by  the  descent  of  influx,  those  trees  of  the  forest  which 
are  used  for  timber,  change  their  mode  of  growth,  and  are  dis- 
posed into  flattened  cubes,  which  take  that  precise  shape,  as 
layer  after  layer  is  added  to  them,  which  fits  them  for  the 
builder^s  hand.  A  fourth  illustration  disclosed  influxes,  by 
means  of  which  attributal  men  either  expand  the  air  cells  of 
the  wood  of  trees  to  make  them  exceedingly  light,  when  their 
use  requires ;  or  otherwise,  for  opposite  purposes,  by  condens- 
ing the  air  cells,  cause  them  to  grow  with  almost  metallic 
solidity.  These  are  some  of  the  wonders  I  noticed  while  in 
his  society. 

92.  I  was  conducted  to  the  stately  pyramidal  mansion  de- 
scribed in  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  142,  to  behold  an  attributal  man  of 
the  second  type,  who  was  in  his  great  ofiice,  as  a  trainer  of 
novitiate  youths,  for  the  reception  of  a  vast  variety  of  super- 
terrestrial  knowledges.  He  was  attired  in  an  over-garment  of 
flamy  purple,  which  descended  to  his  feet.  He  wore  the 
emblem  of  a  white  dove  upon  his  breast,  set  in  a  badge  with 
jewels.  He  was  made  aware  of  my  approach,  as  a  spirit,  by 
the  change   in  his  respiration,  and   instantly   perceived   the 


SEC.  90—93.]  THE    APOCALYPSE.  49 

object  for  whicli  I  came.  Smiling  a  grave  and  courteous 
welcome,  lie  continued  a  discourse,  in  whicli  he  evidently  had 
been  engaged ;  a  description  of  the  modes  of  respiration  prac- 
tised by  the  inhabitants  of  the  sun  of  our  own  system.  I 
gathered  from  his  statement  that  some  of  that  race  are  of 
extreme  buoyancy,  and  that  they  traverse  their  atmosphere  at 
times,  with  a  bird-like  swiftness.  Rising  for  an  illustration, 
at  the  same  time,  he  floated  lightly  in  space  with  extended 
arms,  then  folding  them  upon  his  breast,  resumed  his  former 
standing  position.  I  will  observe  here,  that  he  did  not  rise 
as  a  spirit  in  partial  disconnection  from  the  natural  form,  but 
ascended  with  and  in  it.  Being  permitted  to  inspect  his  per- 
son, I  observed  the  immense  voluminousness  of  the  respiratory 
system.  The  bones  and  cartilages  seemed  flexible  for  its 
operation,  and  the  apparent  bulk  of  the  body  was  varied  con- 
tinually as  the  respirations  underwent  a  change.  Attributal 
men,  who  preside  over  respiration  upon  that  planet,  are  en- 
abled to  communicate  instantaneously,  through  the  change  of 
respiration,  with  any  of  their  globe  to  whom  they  have  a 
message,  irrespective  of  space.  By  means  of  this  air  telegraph, 
communications  are  universal.  States  of  supreme  clemency 
and  mercy,  of  strength  and  exultation,  of  active  waking  or 
sweet  repose,  are  transmitted  with  electric  rapidity,  through 
attributal  men  of  this  type ;  and  they  bear  a  name  which  sig- 
nifies, "  breaths  of  Jehovah,"  in  the  language  of  that  world. 


93.  "  Which  thou  sawest,"  signifies,  seven  series  of  truths 
concerning  attributal  men,  hereafter  to  be  spoken  of  '^  In  my 
rio-ht  hand,"  signifies,  palm-vision  and  its  terrestrial  manifest- 
ation. In  the  right  hand  of  many  angels  appears,  within  the 
palm,  a  lucid  crystalline  lens,  in  which,  as  in  a  mirror,  they 
behold,  with  an  endless  change  of  perspective,  illustrations  of 
those  portions  of  the  Word  wherein  they  are  being  instructed 
by  the  Lord.  These  illustrations  are  an  endless  museum  and 
gallery  of  art,  varying  in  particulars  with  every  angeFs  state. 
"  And  the  seven  golden  candlesticks,"  signifies,  a  now  social 
order,  whereof  the  pivots  or  chiefs  aro  attributal  luon. 
Some  of  the  particulars  may  be  inferred  from  what  has  been 
written  of  the  nature  of  the  gifts  with  which  they  havo  been 


D 


50  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  i. 

endowed.  This  is  also  contained  with  innumerable  specialities 
in  the  clause  which  follows ;  the  "  seven  stars/'  or  seven 
varieties  of  attributal  men,  being  the  Divine  messengers  for 
the  communication  of  gifts,  to  the  "  seven  candlesticks,"  or 
seven  types  of  the  now  humanity,  in  their  new  social  order. 

Pkayee. 
O  Thou,  in  whoso  bosom,  in  Thy  Divine  Humanity,  are  the 
seven  attributal  spirits  of  Almighty  God ;  who  dost  designate 
in  Thy  new  order  on  earth  attributal  men ;  grant,  we  beseech 
Thee,  through  the  reopening  of  internal  respiration,  a  terres- 
trial ministry  of  these  Thy  servants ;  and,  unto  us  who  read; 
perception  of  the  truth  of  this  Tliy  Word,  from  the  affections 
of  the  heart,  for  Thy  most  glorious  descent,  in  light,  liberty, 
and  love  to  all  men.     Amen. 


CHAPTEE   II. 

Ephesus  a  church  or  people  in  the  New  Harmony. — Methods  wherehy 
this  new  process  is  begun. — The  seven  lamps  of  life. — Eelapses  and 
recoveries. — Judgments  against  transgressors  of  the  law  of  the  new 
creation. — Inversions  produced  through  the  antagonism  of  the  hells. 
Seven-fold  and  final  blessedness  of  the  people  called  Ephesus. — SmjTna 
a  second  chiirch  or  people. — Fifth  illustration. —  Ke construction  of 
science  in  the  new  creation. — Seven  crises  of  deliverance  for  this 
people. — Temptations  and  relapses. — Sixth  illustration. — False  scientists 
in  the  Spiritual  Hell. — Ten  persecutions  awaiting  this  people. — Spiritual 
imprisonments  and  their  cause  ;  also  means  of  deliverance. — Tests  of 
faith  during  processes  of  the  new  creation. — Seventh  illustration. — In- 
fernal elements  in  modern  literature. — Eighth  illustration. — Represent- 
ative faculties  in  this  people. — Ninth  illustration. — Ten  states  of  arduous 
endeavour,  and  ten  of  representative  glory  for  men  of  this  type. — A 
bodily  resurrection  to  be  obtained  by  them. — Pergamos  a  third  church 
or  people. — Radiative  men,  pivots  of  order. — Types  of  men  respiring 
from  the  Ultimate  Heaven. — Beginning  of  martyrdoms. — Wars  of  the 
natural  man  against  the  new  creation. — Temptations. — Inversions  from 
the  disorders  of  the  natural  man. — Tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  thirteenth, 
and  fourteenth  illustrations. — Punishment  of  tempters  and  blasphemers- 
— A  new  divine  voice,  and  thence  a  new  eloquence. — Seven  felicities 
for  men  of  this  type  ;  also  seven  conjugial  arcana  respecting  them. — 
The  tree  of  life. — Thyatira  a  fourth  church  or  people. — Their  com- 
posite respiration,  —  Harmonic  civilization  through  them.  —  A  new 
mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdom. — Radiative  centres  in  the  new 
harmony. — Casting  out  of  demons.— Liberators  of  mankind. — Subju- 
gation of  the  larvae. — Healings  of  the  sick.^ — Expulsion  of  the  false 
Hymen. — Fay  work. — Celestial  literature  and  art. — New  agriculture, 
and  new  commerce. —  New  physical  powers.  —  The  new  woman. — 
Fifteenth  illustration. — The  woman's  Word  and  new  harmony  through 
it  for  woman. — Temptations  and  fallings  away. — Judgments. — Uses 
of  the  woman's  Word. — Childhood,  maidenhood,  mamages,  and  genera- 
tions in  the  new  life. — New  periods  in  existence. — Seven  changes 
through  which  woman  is  translated. — Evangelization  of  the  world. — 
Modes  of  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord. 

D  2 


52  AECANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  ii. 

Chap.  ii.  1. — ''Unto  the  angel  of  the  Church  of  Ephesus 
WRITE;  These  things  saith  He  that  holdeth  the  seven 
STARS  in  His  right  hand,  who  walketh  in  the  midst 
op  the  seven  golden  candlesticks.^' 

94.  "  Epliesns/'  as  said  before,  signifies,  tlie  inmost  state  of 
tlie  celestial  man ;  and  refers  to  a  New  Church,  to  consist  of 
those  who  shall  respire  through  the  Celestial  Heaven.  ''  Unto 
the  angel,''  signifies,  the  descent  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  thi-ough 
seven  Heavens  of  the  celestial  degree,  making  one.  "  Of  the 
Church,"  signifies,  the  evolution  of  the  peculiar  civilization, 
which,  in  archetypes,  exists  in  those  Heavens,  through  the 
unitary  form  in  which  they  mediate  as  one  composite  celestial 
man.  "  Of  Ephesus,"  signifies,  all  internally  respiring  men 
on  Earth,  of  the  first  type,  which  is  entitled  celestial-natural. 
''  Write,"  signifies,  the  open  disclosure  of  the  Divine  reve- 
lation from  the  Word,  concerning  the  regeneration  of  the 
celestial-natural  man.  ''  These  things,"  signifies,  all  arcana 
pertaining  to  the  progressive  establishment  and  glorious 
supremacy  of  Divine  order  in  the  celestial-natural  type  of 
humanity.  "  Saith,"  signifies,  voice-communion  from  the 
Lord,  audible  in  the  internal  celestial  mind  of  those  who  are 
to  constitute  this  church  on  earth. 

95.  "  He  that  holdeth  the  seven  stars,"  signifies,  the  Lord 
descending  in  His  Divine  Humanity,  and  making  disclosures 
of  Himself  through  attributal  men,  all  of  which  will  be  germane 
to  the  condition  of  the  worshipper  who  inherits  into  the  divine 
harmonies  of  the  celestial-natural  degree.  "  In  His  right 
hand,"  signifies,  that  the  Lord  is  descending  in  seven  degrees 
of  progressive  regeneration,  adapted  to  the  peculiar  genius  of 
the  celestial-natural  man.  "  Who  walketh  in  the  midst  of  the 
seven  golden  candlesticks,"  signifies,  that  the  proceeding  in- 
fluence, by  means  of  which  our  Lord  renovates  the  man,  in 
this  degree,  is  by  the  universal  conspiration  of  the  atomic  men, 
the  fay  men,  the  human  inhaljitants  of  unfallen  worlds,  the 
world-souls  in  their  series,  and  the  angels  of  the  three  Hea- 
vens. The  atomic  men  of  the  inmost  of  the  atoms  of  the 
human  form,  receiving  influx  from  the  Lord,  through  atomic 
men  of  the  unfallen  creation,  make  war  against  the  accretions 
of  atomic  nebulae  in  the  human  system,  which  is  undergoing 


SEC.  94—96.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  53 

regeneration,  and  tlirougli  Divine  outbreatMngs,  resolve  tliem 
into  disconnected  atomic  forms ;  liberating  thus  the  atomic 
men,  whose  material  systems  are  involved  in  a  subversive 
body,  from  its  disorders.  The  fay  men  have  access  to  all  the 
living  affections,  which,  in  their  aggregate,  constitute  the  body 
of  the  will,  the  body  of  the  understanding,  and  that  of  the  pro- 
ceeding spiritual  person.  They  work  thence,  by  correspond- 
ence, upon  the  forms  of  the  affections  insphered  within  the 
natural  body,  whether  good  or  bad.  The  Lord,  descending 
through  the  fay  men,  who  are  connected  with  the  systems  of 
men  of  the  celestial-natural  type,  inspires  them,  each  after  his 
own  kind,  to  operate  upon  the  embodied  forms  of  affection 
within  the  extenses  of  the  inner  man;  preserving  the  good 
and  destroying  the  evil. 

96.  As  the  celestial-natural  man  begins  to  rise  into  that 
new  order  into  which  he  is  instituted,  by  the  descent  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  through  open  respiration,  great  joy  prevails 
wherever  he  is  perceived,  in  the  spirit,  by  men  of  the  unfallen 
worlds,  who  assimilate  to  him  by  genius.  It  is  said  among 
them,  '^  Let  us  refresh  ourselves  anew  with  Di^^ine  Good  and 
Truth,  and  rejoice;  for  one  that  was  dead  begins  to  be  made 
alive  again ;  and  a  brother  who  was  lost  is  found.'^  When 
such  a  one,  though  still  a  great  way  off,  by  reason  of  the  im- 
purities of  the  selfhood,  is  seen  turning  to  the  Lord,  and  ab- 
sorbing through  the  spirit  into  the  body,  ever  so  little  of  the 
Divine  breath,  they  run  in  spirit  to  meet  him,  and  fall  upon 
his  neck,  and  kiss  him,  and  internally  seek  to  clothe  him  with 
the  starry  mantles  of  their  knowledges;  placing  talismanio 
jewels,  which  burn  with  the  divine  fire  of  repugnancy  to  evil, 
on  his  hand,  and  clasping  about  his  feet  the  shoes  of  light  and 
love,  with  which  spirits  of  unfallen  men  are  endued  for  astral 
pilgrimages.  He  then  lives  for  a  time  in  great  peace,  as  to  the 
internals  of  his  spirit,  with  these  transcendent  friends  of  the 
unfallen  universes.  He  knows  their  names,  their  attributes, 
and  [qualities  of  mind  and  heart.  In  fact,  a  man  is  unfit  to 
advance  beyond  the  minutest  seed-germ  of  internal  respira- 
tion, until  he  begins  to  associate  interiorly  with  congenial 
societies  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  earths  where  moral  evil 
has  no  place.     Until  men  begin  to  familiarise  themselves  with 


51  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  ii. 

the  doctrines  of  the  unfallcn  universe,  disabusing  their  minds, 
especially,  of  the  monstrous  fallacy  that  sin  is  a  normal  and 
necessary  fact  in  creation,  they  cannot  arise  from  the  gross 
condition  which  now  obtains  in  the  world.  The  conception  of 
the  unfallen  universe,  and  of  a  condition  of  obedience  main- 
tained in  freedom  through  Divine  inbrcathings,  from  the  celes- 
tial to  the  natural  degree  of  the  human  constitution,  prepare 
the  way,  as  Divine  messages,  for  the  Lord's  coming  in  the 
new  creation. 

97.  After  unfallen  men,  as  to  their  spirits,  have  begun  to 
consociate  with  the  individual,  the  truths  of  the  celestial  degree 
of  the  Word  begin,  at  first  like  remote  starry  nebulas,  to 
glimmer  upon  the  consciousness.  He  delights,  as  to  his, heart, 
because  he  is  in  a  first  condition  of  renovated  good,  in  the 
awful  and  almost  overwhelming  conception  of  the  astral  sys- 
tem, revealed  through  the  celestial  sense  of  the  Word.  It 
is  to  him  more  inspiring  and  energising,  more  promotive 
of  holiness  and  felicity  than  aught  that  else  appears  in 
universal  literature.  He  feasts  upon  its  knowledges  with  in- 
tense delight.  The  body  of  the  brain,  and  thence  of  the 
whole  system,  prepared  through  these  contemplations,  by  the 
conspiration  of  sympathy  in  every  part,  presents  less  and  less 
resistance  to  the  starry  influxes.  Then  comes  on  the  period  in 
which  the  world- souls  of  the  universe  begin  to  awaken  their 
conscious  melody  within  the  depths  of  the  being. 

98.  The  world-souls  of  the  universe  exist  in  pairs,  male 
and  female.  They  maintain  a  vast  impersonal  consciousness 
throughout  the  electrical  natural  spheres  of  the  orbs  to  which 
they  respectively  pertain.  The  world-soul  of  our  own  orb  is 
feminine,  and  its  masculine  countei'part  is  that  of  the  planet 
Mars,  thi'ough  which  it  is  supported  in  its  fearful  struggles  at 
the  present  time.  The  world- soul,  otherwise,  is  negative  to 
the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  orb  in  which  it  rules. 
When  nations  are  non-existent  through  sin,  which  otherwise 
should  deploy  their  forces  in  industrial  pursuits,  and  in  the 
walks  and  works  of  a  varied  civilization,  the  organs  in  the 
body  of  the  world- soul,  with  which,  by  correspondence,  they 
agree,  are  shrivelled  and  paralytic ;  dying  nations  appear  in 
her  body  as  festering  ulcers  ;  while  tribes  which  exist  in  a  con- 


SEC.  97—100.]  TRE   APOCALTFSE.  55 

dition  of  wai%  fever  and  incessantly  inflame  tliose  portions  of 
the  system  in  whicli  tliey  appear.  Nations  wlierein  inverted 
forms  of  religion  and  philosopliy  exist  and  prevail,  develope 
a  condition  of  delirium.  The  world-soul  mourns  in  the  misery 
of  her  unhappy  and  enslaved  offspring. 

99.  In  spite  of  these  most  melancholy  details,  the  aspect 
of  the  world-soul  of  our  orb  is  extremely  beauteous.  She  is 
enveloped  in  a  coruscating  splendour,  which  takes  the  place 
of  garments,  and  which  is  derived  from  the  glorified  humanity 
of  our  Lord.  She  is  often  heard,  by  those  to  whom  the  Lord 
vouchsafes  the  gift,  discoursing  in  a  most  exquisite  music  that 
trembles  through  the  pulses  of  the  budding  leaves.  The  ani- 
mated forests  are  tuneful  with  its  utterance.  It  flows,  with  a 
pleasant  undertone,  through  the  sounds  of  the  growth-pro- 
cesses of  the  flowers,  and  leaps  in  jets  of  harmony  through  the 
rocky  structures  of  the  earth,  awakening,  in  metals  and 
minerals,  a  vibration  of  their  own.  It  is  not  the  sweet  sad- 
ness with  which  the  poet  mourns  the  days  that  are  no  more; 
it  partakes  not  of  the  quality  of  the  impassioned  muse,  who, 
stung  to  madness  by  the  desolations  of  mankind,  wails  upon 
the  harp  strings  of  her  own  spirit,  until,  in  the  tumult  of  her 
grief,  they  are  broken.  The  burthen  of  the  refrain  of  the 
world-soul  is,  continually,  "  I  know  that  my  Eedeemer  liveth.'^ 
It  will  yet  grow  audible  to  the  dullest  ear,  and  travellers  in 
lone  wildernesses,  and  voyagers  amidst  the  majestic  solitari- 
ness of  the  sea,  shall  hear  the  wide  atmosphere,  pervaded  by 
an  undulant  and  continued  mellifluence  of  sound,  in  harmony 
with  all  things  deep  and  deathless  in  the  quickened  human 
soul.  It  is  the  office  of  the  world- soul,  to  move  by  interfluent 
melody,  in  unison  with  the  rythmic  harmony  of  the  universe, 
on  mankind ;  and  the  song  that  swells  through  the  seven-fold 
afi'ections  of  her  being,  descends  from  the  new  harmony  which 
is  filling  the  universe,  and  which  the  Lord  in  His  Incarnation 
began. 

100.  To  the  angels  of  the  Celestial  Heaven,  as  the  internal 
respiratories  are  being  prepared  for  their  re-opening,  are 
entrusted  various  duties ;  of  which  the  first  is,  to  reduce  the 
natural  potencies  inherent  in  the  selfhood  of  the  will.  The 
individual  feels  inmostly,  within  himself,  a  sensation  as  if  the 


50  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [cuap.  it. 

ability  to  exercise  controlling  influence  over  liis  felloAvs  were 
at  an  end.  He  languishes  deeply  within  himself;  starts  at  a 
shadow ;  is  aifected  by  the  slightest  concussion  or  vibration  of 
the  atmosphere  ;  suffers  from  impaired  memory ;  finds  it  diffi- 
cult to  condense  and  arrange  the  dim,  floating  thoughts  that, 
cloud-like,  wander  over  the  deeps  of  consciousness ;  becomes 
more  keenly  alive  to  atmospheric  changes ;  and  feels  a  disposi- 
tion to  retire  from  the  discord  and  confusion  of  society  into 
utter  solitude.  Mysterious  pains  begin  to  invade  the  nervous 
system ;  heats  and  colds,  which  may  be  felt  within  the  body, 
and  yet  which  sustain  no  relation  to  the  heats  or  colds  of 
natural  sensation,  announce  the  approach  of  a  new  order  of 
phenomena  in  the  frame.  It  becomes  difficult  to  express 
thought.  To  those  who  are  in  wedlock,  the  nuptial  enjoyments 
rapidly  decrease,  as  if  potency  were  giving  way  to  impotency. 
A  sensation  of  strange,  ethereal  lightness  makes  its  presence 
felt  within  the  bosom.  Keen  hungers  are  experienced  for 
some  divine  food,  which  this  world  does  not  know,  and  a  con- 
tinual impression,  by  day  and  night,  affects  the  spirit,  that  the 
day  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh . 

101,  The  Spiritual  Angels  inspect,  at  this  time,  the  under- 
standing, wherein  the  germs  of  the  acquired  knowledges  which 
the  individual  has  gathered  are  conspicuously  apparent.  They 
sprinkle  the  brain  with  a  slow  opiate  which  benumbs  the 
organs  of  self-derived  intelligence.  They  call  out  from  deep 
seclusion  the  latent  germs  of  divine  truths  implanted  in  the 
inmost  mind.  Whatever  were  the  previous  opinions,  if  not 
grounded  in  the  inmost  principle  of  life,  they  begin  to  recede 
and  disappear.  Ideas  scintillate  at  times  before  the  mental 
eye,  with  sudden  and  surpassing  brilliancy,  and  as  rapidly 
vanish.  A  feeling,  as  if  there  were  subjective  plains,  and  moun- 
tains, and  rivers,  and  waterfalls,  and  oeeans,  within  the  mind, 
and  these  composed  of  a  substance  more  real  than  Nature,  at 
times  prevails.  Slowly  the  intellect  arrives  at  a  perception  of 
the  world  within.  The  Angels  of  the  Ultimate  Heaven,  at  this 
period,  marshal  themselves  about  the  man.  He  is  sometimes 
accompanied  by  thousands,  respiring  in  unison,  and  with  a 
sound,  which,  to  demons  who  oppose,  resembles  thunder,  or 
the  deep  heavings  of  the  sea. 


SEC.  101  —  104]  TEE   APOCALYPSE.  57 

102.  When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  all  the  individuals,  and 
entities  of  this  seven-fold  series,  contain  within  themselves, 
from  the  Lord,  forms  of  the  new  creation,  which  the  Divine 
Spirit  is  to  establish  with  man ;  and  that,  throngh  all  the 
seven-fold  sei-ies,  it  is  the  Lord  who  moves  forth  in  the  stately 
miracle  of  redemption;  it  may  be  understood  how  He  "walketh 
in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks  ;"  though  there 
are  here  innumerable  arcana,  not  as  yet  explained. 

Chap.  ii.  2. — "  I  know  thy  woeks,  and  thy  labour,  and  thy 

PATIENCE,  AND  HOW  THOU  CANST  NOT  BEAR  THEM  WHICH 
ARE  EVIL  :  AND  THOU  HAST  TRIED  THEM  WHICH  SAY  THEY 
ARE  APOSTLES,  AND  ARE    NOT,  AND   HAST    POUND    THEM   LIARS." 

103.  ^^  I  know,"' signifies,  the  descent  of  the  new  creation, 
called  knowledge,  through  internal  respiration,  into  the  minds 
of  such  as  are  becoming  celestial-natural.  There  is  a  new 
cerebrum  formed  within  the  old.  This  is  first  within  the  in- 
most celestial  degree  of  the  brain.  It  is  projected  through 
the  divine  humanity  of  the  Lord,  and  organized  through  His 
glorified  human  person.  By  this  is  meant  an  absolute  new 
degree  of  celestial  substance,  and  not  the  old  reconstituted; 
for  which  see  more  hereafter.  '^  Thy  works,"  signifies,  the  con- 
spiration of  the  celestial-natural  man,  through  his  breathings, 
with  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  forms  the  new  cerebral  system 
within  that  which  existed  before.  "  And  thy  labour,"  signifies, 
gestation.  The  throes  of  the  celestial-natural  man  at  this 
period,  are  indescribable.  New  organs  in  the  cerebrum  are 
first  involved  within  the  old,  as  in  matrices ;  but  the  new  divine 
movement,  evolved  through  unfolding  organs,  wars  against 
the  subversive  movement,  which  reigns  in  the  prior  organs 

,  in  which  they  are  involved.  There  is  an  effort  upon  the  part 
of  the  old  organs,  to  subject  the  new;  and  all  the  pre-estab- 
lished motions  of  the  frame  conspire  for  this  purpose,  but  the 
new  prevail. 

104.  ^^  And  thy  patience,"  signifies,  that  year  by  year,  day 
and  night,  sheltered  or  shelterless,  at  ease  or  trampled  on, 
the  celestial-natural  man  struggles  to  maintain  the  new  order, 
which  is  descending  into  the  frame.  "^And  how  thou  canst 
not  bear  them  which  are  evil,"  signifies,  the  intense  repugnancy 


58  ABGANA    OF    GRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

felt  by  the  celestial-natural  man,  against  the  invcrsive  culture 
of  the  world,  against  its  false  shows,  its  hypocritical  deceits 
and  frauds,  and  against  the  extortions  and  oppressions  which 
prevail;  seeing  in  those  who  are  the  agents  of  evil,  so  many 
mechanical  and  motive  powers,  unconsciously  operated  by 
Pandemonium.  ''^  And  thou  hast  tried  them  which  say  they 
are  apostles,  and  are  not,  and  hast  found  them  liars,"  signifies, 
the  ability  to  discern  the  quality  of  spirits,  and  to  detect 
the  falsehoods  of  those  who  counterfeit  angels. 


Chap.  ii.  3. — ''  And  hast  boenb,  and  hast  patience,  and  foe 

MY   name's    sake    hast    LABOURED,    AND    HAST    NOT   PAINTED." 

105.  "  And  hast  borne,"  signifies,  oppression.  The  celestial 
man,  in  whom  the  new  movement  is  instituted,  suffers  organi- 
cally in  a  seven-fold  manner.  First,  the  atomic  nebulae  in  the 
form,  which  are  deranged  from  their  true  orbit,  are  moved 
upon  by  evil  spirits  and  demons,  to  torment  and  afflict.  He 
struggles  against  successions  of  diseases,  resulting  from  phy- 
sical derangements,  which  have  this  cause,  and  the  friendly 
assistance  of  medical  advisers  of  the  old  order,  often  aids  on 
the  maladies  which  seek  to  prostrate  the  form.  Herein  is  seen 
the  need  of  physicians  of  the  new  order,  divinely  illumined. 
The  baleful  magnetism  of  terrestrial  men,  set  on  fire  with 
their  evil  lusts,  is  a  second  source  pregnant  with  agony.  As 
the  celestial -natural  man  proceeds  toward  his  new  state,  he 
finds  himself  in  a  world  which  deifies  the  carnal  selfhood,  and 
systematically  violates  the  first  precepts  of  the  Divine  rule. 
The  bad  man  mm'ders  the  affections  of  innocence  within  his 
own  breast  first,  and  from  the  organic  murders  within  his  own 
soul,  go  forth  legions  of  invisible  diabolical  creatures,  that  seek 
to  penetrate  the  newly  constituted  paradises  within  the  bosoms 
of  the  good,  and  utterly  to  extirpate  every  affection  born  from 
the  sweet  nuptials  of  faith  and  charity  therein.  But,  in  the 
third  place,  the  man  struggling  into  the  new  order,  is  griev- 
ously oppressed  by  the  world-soul  of  the  lost  orb,  which,  as 
an  organ  of  inverted  motion,  wars  against  the  new  Divine 
motion,  which  is  being  instituted  in  the  spirit  and  body  of 
the  frame. 


SEC.  105—108.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  59 

106.  That  utter  hopelessness,  and  that  inconceivable  despair 
which  suddenly  invade  the  man  of  the  new  age,  are  the  results 
of  an  invasive  movement,  which  periodically  is  communicated 
from  this  source.  The  demons  of  the  Natural  Hell,  both  of  our 
own  and  the  lost  orb,  acting  in  juxtaposition  of  power,  are 
fully  aware  whenever  internal  respiration  is  at  hand.  Their 
rage  knows  no  bounds.  They  stir  up,  first,  wandering  spirits 
who  are  evil;  (see  A.  of  C.  1.  I.  776).  And  second,  individuals 
of  ultimate  genius,  who  are  under  their  control  on  earth,  making 
use  of  them  as  agents  for  subtle  and  cruel  sorceries,  particulars 
of  which  in  due  time  will  be  made  known.  Every  species  of 
fi'audful  subterfuge,  every  falsity  of  reason,  every  heresy 
against  the  Word,  which  it  is  possible  for  the  fallen  ingenuity 
to  invent  or  to  conceive,  is  as  a  fixity  or  substance  in  the 
societies  of  the  dark  demons  in  the  Spiritual  Hell,  both  of  our 
own  race,  and  the  former  race  which  fell. 

107.  The  celestial -natural  man  meets,  in  the  sixth  place, 
volumes  of  infernal  breaths,  composed  in  their  particulars  of 
myriads  of  living  organized  forms  of  blasphemies,  which  are 
bred  in  the  organisms  of  demons  of  this  degree,  and  breathed 
by  them  into  the  bodies  of  wandering  spirits  of  their  class, 
and  also  injected  into  the  mental  structures  of  depraved  men 
of  a  spiritual  type  on  earth.  These  intellectual  larvse,  that  bite 
like  serpents,  that  sting  like  scorpions,  emerge  tlirough  the 
bodies  of  those  addicted  to  diabolical  arts  :  and,  like  the  black 
and  stifling  odour  from  a  volcano,  or  the  noisome  exhalations 
of  the  city  of  the  dead,  float  above  and  encompass  the  systems 
of  those  in  whom  they  originate,  until  a  human  being  is  seen 
who  is  opened,  in  ever  so  slight  a  degree,  to  the  Divine  order 
now  descending  through  the  New  Heaven.  When  such  are 
near,  they  precipitate  themselves  into  whatever  organ  of  the 
form  is  accessible,  and  endeavour  to  take  possession  of  the 
reason  in  its  natural  substances,  and  to  inflame  the  organs 
to  delirium,  or  chill  them  with  paralysis,  or  infect  them  with 
some  noisome  plague. 

108.  Hands,  and  other  members  of  the  human  system, 
which  are  often  made  visible  in  seances  of  spiritualists,  and 
which  seem  invested  with  dazzling  brilliancy  and  purity,  are 
formed,  as  a  rule,  by  demons  of  a  Spiritual  Hell,  and  are  simply 


GO  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

the  aggregations   of  niagnetio   breaths  embodied    in  nature, 
through  mediatorial  organisms. 

109.  Besides  the  loves  of  self,  of  the  world,  and  of  dominion 
over  others,  Avhich  constitute  the  very  life  of  the  infernal  mnn, 
and  which  manifest  themselves  through  all  evil  spirits,  there 
are  certain  passions  peculiar  to  the  demons  of  the  lost  orb.  Of 
these  the  first  is,  to  be  reinstated  in  corporeal  bodies  which  shall 
become  immortal  in  their  physique,  and  invulnerable  against 
the  arrows  of  the  Almighty.  A  second  love,  with  them,  scarcely 
inferior  in  intensity  to  the  former,  is  hatred  of  that  new  move- 
ment which  descends  into  the  human  body,  through  the  re- 
opening of  internal  respiration ;  seeing  as  they  do  the  frustra- 
tion of  all  their  schemes  against  the  universe,  through  the 
descent  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  in  this  manner.  Now  Satan,  the 
former  magnate  of  the  lost  orb,  in  whose  personality  evil 
began,  is  acutely  sensible,  by  means  of  his  pivotal  position, 
that  the  new  condition  is  about  to  make  its  appearance  with 
our  human  race,  and  that  its  premonitory  symptoms  are 
begun. 

110.  He  is  worshipped  as  a  god  in  the  lowest  hell  of  our 
orb,  and  is  viewed  from  afar  as  some  stately  omniarch  invested 
with  principalities  and  powers  without  number.  This  is  the 
order  of  inversion  established  in  that  desolated  abyss  which  is 
his  prison  house.  Seven  "  throne  spirits,^'  so  called,  typify, 
in  the  utmost  extreme  of  blasphemy,  the  seven  spirits  of  the 
attributes  in  the  divine  humanity  of  our  Lord. 

111.  The  reason  why  these  key  notes,  as  it  were,  of  the 
infernal  vibrations  are  thus  arranged,  will  be  seen  hereafter. 
(See  Magic  of  the  Hells.)  Throughout  all  this  fierce  anarchical 
realm.  Crime  is  organized  and  solidified,  for  one  titanic  end, 
capable  only  of  emanating  from  itself.  It  is  through  the  seven 
sub-centres,  each  holding  at  its  command  satellite  spirits  of  an 
order  approximating  to  itself,  that  the  stupendous  machinery 
of  rebellion  is  kept  in  action.  The  object  of  the  demons  of  the 
lost  orb  is  to  place  their  whole  force  in  such  a  form,  that  it 
shall  be  in  the  inverse  and  opposite  to  the  order  of  the  attri- 
butes in  the  intelligence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is 
through  the  conspiration  of  all  minds  therein  as  one  mind,  that 
they  are  enabled  to  present  to  the  false  eyes  of  the  evil  spirits. 


SEC.  109— 113.]         TRE   AP0CALYF8E.  61 


in  the  deepest  liell  of  our  own  worlds  the  likeness  of  an  infernal 
sun  j  to  which  they  turn  the  faces  of  their  affections,  inverting 
themselves  from  the  Divine  luminary  of  the  Heavens. 

112.  To  break  the  defences  which  surround  the  personality 
of  the  terrestrial  man,  they  saturate  the  human  magnetism, 
emanating  from  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  most  thoroughly 
confirmed  in  evil,  with  an  element  which  flows  forth  upon  the 
air  as  a  distilled  perdition.  This  human  magnetism  is  visible  to 
the  spiritual  sight  as  an  oily,  acrid  fluid,  emitting  through  itself 
a  putrescence  from  the  hearts  of  the  lowest  of  demons.  When 
a  drop  of  it  is  applied  to  the  spiritual  body,  unless  that  body 
is  shielded  by  a  Divine  influence,  it  produces  cold  cramps, 
which  vibrate  to  the  pit  of  the  stomach  with  a  sensation  of 
condensed  ice^  reacting  upon  the  natural  body  with  similar 
phenomena.  This  is  the  prime  agent  made  use  of  by  the 
lowest  infernals,  for  the  purpose  of  subduing  the  organization 
of  the  celestial-uatm'al  man ;  strychnine  is  less  potent  in  its 
effects ;  but  God  has  provided  an  antidote.  Through  the 
seven  modes  just  described,  the  new  man,  through  whom  the 
Lord  descends,  whether  he  be  of  eminent  or  low  estate,  expe- 
riences oppression, 

113.  ''And  hast  patience '^  (endurance),  signifies,  the  con- 
tinuity in  struggle  of  the  celestial-natural  man.  One  by 
one  the  illusions,  which  mask  the  surfaces  of  things,  veiling 
their  true  nature,  drop  away,  as  the  breath  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  approximates  to  the  natural  organs  of  respiration, 
through  the  internal.  Wastings  commence,  which  must  now  be 
spoken  of.  There  are  seven  lamps  of  the  golden  candlestick 
of  life,  which  feed  the  fire  of  man's  composite  personality. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  lamp  of  the  atomic  particles.  These 
are  massed  into  granular  bodies,  so  long  as  internal  respu'ation 
is  closed.  From  the  time  when  it  begins,  in  ever  so  slight  a 
degree,  to  be  opened,  a  process  of  disintegration  commences, 
in  the  condensed  atomic  masses,  which  tend  to  separateness 
and  freedom.  Through  the  atomic  human  entities  of  which 
they  are  composed,  they  distribute  themselves  in  a  new  scries, 
to  the  brain,  or  to  the  lungs,  or  to  any  other  member  of  the 
system,  as  the  case  may  be,  acting  as  universal  solvents  and 
distributives,  so  gradually  introducing  a  now  orJcr  in  the  place 


G2  ARCANA    OF    CRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

of  tlie  old.  Every  breath  of  the  new  respiration  witnesses  the 
disengagement  of  many,  and  their  redistribution.  The  fire  of 
the  Divine  love  burns  brightly  through  them,  as  they  tend  to 
a  new  solidarity ;  but  the  transition  is  painful ;  and  could  a 
celestial  microscope  be  applied  to  the  eye,  it  would  reveal 
earthquakes,  volcanoes,  stupendous  conflagrations,  the  upheav- 
ing of  plains,  the  suppression  of  mountains,  and  the  gathering 
up  of  the  firmaments  of  the  form,  the  disappearance  of  their 
suns  and  moons  and  stars,  and  the  destruction  of  animal  and 
vegetable  races. 

114.  The  second  lamp  is  the  fay  life  (for  who  and  what  are 
the  fays,  see  A.  of  C.  2,  I.  chapter  1).  Through  open  respira- 
tion the  fays  descend  into  the  finer  parts  of  nature  connected 
with  the  frame,  and  work  by  correspondence  against  its  evils. 
The  false  and  evil  affections  which  have  been  inherited  or 
acquired,  are  represented  in  the  body  by  minute  organic 
forms,  corresponding  to  whatever  is  inverted  or  impure  in  the 
vegetable  world,  and  to  the  obscene  and  ferocious  creatures  of 
the  animal  kingdom.  So  long  as  respiration  is  not  opened, 
at  least  in  its  premonitory  stage,  there  is  no  access,  except  in 
so  far  as  the  fays  are  enabled  to  operate  through  the  inflowing 
spheres  of  such  other  persons   as  have  become  opened  to 

'respire  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  When,  however,  individual 
openings  begin,  the  fays  first  descend  into  the  lungs,  working 
by  correspondence,  to  overthrow  the  organic  forms  of  the  evils 
in  the  body;  thence  they  extend  the  theatre  of  aggressions, 
until  it  includes  the  entire  system ;  but  this  gradually.  When 
it  is  taken  into  consideration  that  the  forces  of  the  individual 
are  determined  by  the  appropriation  of  life  from  the  Lord  into 
the  universal  series  of  the  organic  forms,  it  is  obvious  that 
successive  inroads  and  the  slaughter  of  myriads  of  these  re- 
ceptive and  distributive  media  for  influx,  must  waste  exceed- 
ingly the  natural  potencies  of  man.  The  building-up  process 
in  the  fay  series  will  be  described  hereafter. 

115.  The  thii'd  lamp  of  life  is  that  which  proceeds  from  the 
mediative  influence  of  unfallen  men.  The  states  of  individuals 
are  determined  by  consociation,  through  afiinity.  If  the  Lord 
sees  fit  to  grant  to  the  individual,  as  to  his  spirit,  consociation 
with  the   men   of  the    unfallen   universe,  he    enters    at   first 


SEC.  114— 117.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  63 

into  this  intercourse  with  extreme  delight^  and  his  evils  are 
quiescent  for  a  time;  but  the  order  of  this  new  life  is  soon  felt 
to  be  at  war  with  habit,  custom,  pre-established  ideas  in  the 
natm'al  mind,  determined  volitions  in  the  senses,  and,  in  fine, 
with  the  great  bulk  of  the  natural  constitution.  Were  a  har- 
monic man  on  earth,  he  would  be  Crucified,  or  in  other  ways 
put  to  death,  before  he  had  Hved  seven  years.  To  consociate 
internally  and  inmostly  with  such,  then,  begets  in  the  mind 
trains  of  thought,  in  the  will  habits  of  action,  which  are  as 
flaming  fii'e  agaiust  man's  inversions. 

116.  But  society,  as  organized,  is  one  stupendous  falsehood. 
Whatever,  therefore,  in  the  unregenerate  parts  of  the  nature, 
is  in  sympathy  with  the  courses  of  things  as  they  are,  with  the 
seven-fold  force  of  a  huge  anaconda  wound  round  the  lungs, 
endeavours  to  crush  out  the  new  order  of  the  respirations. 
How  fearful  is  this  contest !  It  is  as  if,  within  the  organi- 
zation, there  was  a  war  in  Heaven,  and  Michael  and  his  angels 
fought  against  the  Destroyer  and  his  angels.  Everything  in 
the  man  germane  to  the  old  order  is  quickened  withia,  to  pro- 
test against  the  new.  Often  the  much-endmnng  man,  groan- 
ing in  spirit,  looks  upon  annihilation  as  a  boon.  The  wheels 
of  being  roll  heavily.  The  disc  of  the  imagination  is  seen 
wrapt  in  a  flame  of  blood.  The  powers  of  the  understanding, 
in  the  self-derived  nature,  are  shaken,  and  the  stars  of  many  a 
formed  opinion  become  meteors,  and  fall  "as  a  fig-tree  that 
casteth  her  untimely  figs."  It  is  then  that  evil  spirits,  of  every 
grade,  plunge  into  the  man,  if  possible  to  obsess  and  ruin  him. 
The  body,  recoiling  from  the  fiery  ardour  of  the  Divine  em- 
brace, protests  against  its  martyrdom.  Evils  long  buried, 
with  importunate,  flamy  visages,  rise,  forcing  their  way  up 
thi'ough  the  reopening  strata  of  the  dissolving  atomic  forms. 
It  is  as  if  the  barbaric  inhabitants  of  former  generations  should 
leap  embodied  from  the  old  sepulchres,  full  armed,  mailed,  and 
panoplied  with  fire,  siding  with  every  sin  of  misrule,  and 
seeking  to  overturn  all  peaceful  civilization. 

117.  Beyond  this,  through  endurance,  comes  the  dark  night 
which  succeeds  a  battle.  The  moaning,  heljjless,  bleeding 
sins,  the  old  organic  forms,  which  life  from  Heaven  has 
pierced,  seem  to  protest  against  the  unfallen  men  as  agents 


Oi  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

of  tlieir  assassination.  To  the  moral  will^  whicli  thus  far  has 
led  them  on,  they  cry  piteously,  as  did  the  Israelites  against 
Moses,  "  Why  hast  thou  led  us  from  a  land  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey  to  perish  in  this  wilderness?"  Their  voices  die 
away  in  the  dumb,  blank  silences  of  the  dead.  The  body 
wastes  during  this  process,  as  well  it  may. 

118.  The  fourth  lamp  of  life  is  that  of  the  world-souls. 
Every  man  has  his  own  place,  as  the  member  of  an  affiliated 
series  of  human  spirits,  organically  connected  with  the  whole 
humanity  of  the  orb;  and  this  place  is  determined  by  his 
individual  relation  to  the  series,  and  its  relation  to  the  world- 
soul.  But  internal  respiration,  as  it  descends,  first  loosening 
one  band,  and  then  another,  disconnects  the  subject  of  it  from 
his  series.  The  man  of  our  earth  appears,  as  to  his  spirit,  on 
no  other  earth  than  our  own.  He  is  bound  within  its  pre- 
cincts. The  orbs  of  space,  because  they  are  unfallen,  hold 
him  at  bay  with  closed  world-souls ;  preventing  his  access  to 
that  cherub-guarded  Eden,  where  the  worlds  bloom  like  flowers 
in  the  expanse  of  an  unbounded  plain,  or  rustle  like  golden 
grain  for  a  supernal  harvest,  or  arch  in  magnificent  rainbows 
through  stellar  space.    He  is  excluded  by  reason  of  the  fall. 

119.  But  the  woi'ld-souls  welcome  the  child  of  earth,  who 
begins  to  be  celestial-natural.  They  attract  his  spirit  during 
sleep,  and  waft  it  to  their  choicest  bowers  of  contemplation  and 
perception.  Through  their  open,  quickened  spirits,  the  mild, 
reposeful  inhabitants,  in  the  resplendent  majesty  of  a  man- 
hood, or  ineffable  purity  of  a  womanhood,  clasped  in  the  closest 
conjunction  to  the  Divine  life,  behold  the  essence  of  the  pale 
new  comer,  floating  between  the  dark  and  dawn,  and  emerging 
from  the  chaos  of  inversions  into  the  established  rest  and 
settled  harmony  of  their  beautiful  estate.  What  vistas  of 
wonder  open  upon  the  vision  then  !  But,  measured  by  the 
ecstasy  of  the  pilgrimage,  are  the  pangs  of  parting,  and  the 
tortures  of  the  return  from  worlds  where  there  are  no  tyrants 
or  slaves,  no  parasites,  no  flatterers,  none  who  defraud  or  defile 
the  neighbour,  nothing  that  worketh  abomination  or  maketh  a 
lie,  but  those  who  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life. 

120.  To  return  to  the  sphere  of  Earth  is  to  re-enter  the  pur- 
lieus of  some  thronged,  oriental  or  occidental  city,  where  vice 


SEC.  ii8— 121.]        THE   APOCALYPSE.  65 


is  considered  by  the  wisest  rulers  as  a  necessity  wliicli  cannot 
be  overthrown.  The  universal  contamination  obscm'es  the 
perceptions  of  the  wisest,  and  blunts  the  sensibilities  of  the 
best.  And  here,  with  a  body  locked  in  its  interests,  and  sub- 
ject to  its  ordinances,  he  plods  the  weary  diurnal  round ;  happy 
if,  through  Divine  grace,  he  continues  able  to  preserve  within 
the  outer  processes  of  consciousness,  the  better  vision,  the 
purer  day.  But  his  body,  which  has  learned  to  expand  and 
dilate  itself  in  the  unmeasured  space,  has  become  diffused  far 
beyond  its  visible  outline.  Internal  respiration,  especially 
when  continued  through  the  interaction  of  the  world-souls, 
broadens  the  area  of  sensation.  While  man  is  locked  up  in 
the  death-bound  material  state  of  closed  respiration,  his  sensa- 
tions are  within  himself,  and  of  one;  he  now  begins  to  ex- 
perience the  sensations  of  others,  as  within  himself.  The 
agonies  of  a  thousand  who  are  writhing  and  struggling  in  the 
embrace  of  evil,  the  heart-break,  the  despair  of  humanity, 
instantly  telegraph  themselves  into  the  centres  of  the  senso- 
rium.  He  sympathises  in  the  sorrows  of  the  world-soul  of  his 
orb,  until  by  degrees  he  begins  to  be  re-established,  through 
deeper  sympathy  continued  into  her  heart,  when  Christ  begins 
to  triumph  in  his  breast. 

121.  After  this  time  there  is  rehabilitation.  The  fifth  lamp 
of  life  is  that  of  the  ultimate  angels.  Man  subsists  in  in- 
timate consociation  with  angels,  not  alone  of  the  Celestial  and 
Spiritual,  but  also  of  the  Ultimate  Heaven.  Those  of  this 
Heaven  who  come  to  him,  when  in  the  transit  from  the  earlier 
to  the  more  complete  stages  of  the  new  respiration,  belong 
principally  to  the  heavens  derived  from  the  earths  of  the  uni- 
verse most  immediately  in  conjunction  with  our  own.  The 
Ultimate  Heaven  presides  over  longevity.  There  are  instru- 
ments, which  I  have  beheld  in  some  of  the  angelic  societies 
there,  by  which  one  may  read,  to  a  moment,  the  allotted  span 
of  the  terrestrial  duration  of  our  earWs  inhabitants,  provided 
the  natural  organization  meets  with  no  casualty,  and  evil  pas- 
sions do  not  accelerate  the  waste  of  the  organs.  The  condition 
of  the  individual,  as  it  changes,  is  instantly  noted  in  these  in- 
struments, so  that  one  at  a  glance  perceives  the  probable  dura- 
tion of  the  human  natural  Hfe. 

E 


6G  ARCANA   OF  CHBISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

122.  Byan  appcndago  to  tlicra,  tlio  proximation  of  internal 
respiration  to  the  organs,  is  also  determined.  It  is  amazing 
to  behold,  as  one  may  do  in  this  manner,  tlie  narrow,  filmy 
thread,  that  at  the  present  time  is  all  that  separates  tho 
spiritual  breath  from  tho  natural  lungs.  Seven-eighths  of  tho 
distance  in  the  organic  space  has  been  worn  away  in  tjie 
last  seventy  years.  An  ultimate  angel  stands  with  every 
man,  who  is  charged  with  tho  modification  of  the  Divine  in- 
flux, which  aSects,  by  correspondence,  the  motion  of  the  form. 
He  is  instantly  aware  of  even  the  slightest  change,  and  as 
rapidly  graduates  the  pressure  of  the  Divine  influx  to  the 
varying  state  of  the  vessels  into  which  it  flows.  As  internal 
respiration  begins,  besides  the  degree  of  respiration  proper  to 
himself,  which  he  maintains  from  the  Lord,  he  breathes  in  and 
through  the  lungs  of  his  terrestrial  brother,  assisting  the  feeble 
organs.  A  sphere  which  descends  from  his  own  lungs  literally 
encompasses  the  respiratories  of  the  one  to  whom  he  ministers ; 
and  this  without  impairing  freedom.  In  the  beginnings  of  tho 
new  respiration  some  will  receive  it  tentatively ;  the  thin  mem- 
brane in  the  space  between  the  spiritual  and  natural  lungs  not 
being  absolutely  destroyed,  but  pervaded,  so  that  a  certain 
sense  of  opening  shall  be  given,  which  becomes  full  opening 
through  faithfulness.  When  this  occurs,  it  is  because  those 
who  are  the  subjects  of  it  require  vastation  before  the  breath 
can  be  applied  in  its  more  absolute  fervour.  Should  such 
prove  incapacitated  for  its  full  descent,  a  thick  membrane- 
ous cuticle  overgrows,  and  they  become  intensely  corporeal. 
The  effect  of  the  presence  of  the  ultimate  angel  in  this  inti- 
mate manner  is,  at  first,  to  weaken,  while  from  time  to  time 
it  occasions  no  inconsiderable  pain.  The  impure  affections  in 
the  body  of  the  mind  and  the  will,  which  are  hostile  to  the 
Divine  life,  and  especially  that  degree  of  it  which  the  ultimate 
angel  possesses,  resist  the  flow  of  the  influx,  and  the  motions 
thence  derived.     See  more  upon  this  point  hereafter. 

123.  The  sixth  lamp  of  life  is  that  of  the  spiritual  angels. 
When  internal  respiration  is  begun,  rigid  rules  for  the  conduct 
of  the  life,  are,  by  an  interior  process,  made  known  from  the 
Lord.  The  understanding  is  illumined  to  perceive  laws  of 
food,  of  attire,  of  the  division  of  the  day,  of  prayer,  of  recrea- 


SEC.  122—125.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  67 


tion^  and  of  intercom^se  with  tlie  worlds  wliicli  form  tlie  chap- 
ters of  a  Divine  decalogue,  and  tlie  penalty  of  the  violation 
of  which  is  extreme.  The  spiritual  angels  breathe  in  con- 
sonance with  the  movements  of  the  intermediate  degree  of 
the  natm'al  lungs,  as  the  divine  movement  flows  into  them, 
respiring  in  a  plane  above  that  of  the  ultimate  angels.  When 
it  begins  to  be  difficult  to  respire  from  internals  to  externals, 
as  is  often  the  case,  the  demons  have  risen  from  below, 
and  are  endeavouring  to  suppress  the  respiration  altogether. 
The  spii'itual  angels  combat  then  against  the  infemals ;  but  in 
combating  against  the  infernals,  they  wage  war  against  what- 
ever falsities  remain  embedded  within  the  understanding  of 
the  one  in  whose  behalf  they  strive. 

124.  The  seventh  lamp  of  life  is  that  of  celestial  angels, 
who,  as  internal  respiration  begins  to  open,  respire  in  instant 
conjunction  with  the  celestial  degree  of  the  lungs,  and  thence 
with  the  celestial-natural.  Were  one  of  these  to  breathe  fully 
through  the  opened  respiratories,  the  ardours  of  the  Divine 
Love  which  possess  him,  would,  in  their  descent  to  the  natm^al 
body,  consume  the  structures  and  leave  but  charred  remains. 
They  modify  their  breathings,  therefore,  with  extreme  caution, 
keeping  their  faces  directly  to  the  Lord,  and  moving  in  the 
pulse-beats  of  the  Divine  harmony.  They  recede  from,  or 
draw  near  the  man,  as  the  Lord  directs,  receding  during  wake- 
fulness, and  advancing  dm-ing  sleep.  They  deposit,  through 
consentaneous  respu'ation,  mjTiads  of  germs  of  new  qualities 
of  divine  love  within  the  will.  But  these  germs,  as  they  un- 
fold, are  procreant,  and  serve  as  parents  of  a  multitudinous 
progeny,  taking  the  place  of  the  hereditary  affections  of  the 
selfhood,  which  are  evil.  Wars  thence  ensue  and  wastings. 
The  celestial  angels  keep  pace,  in  the  intimacy  of  their  rela- 
tions, with  the  degree  of  the  openness  of  respiration,  and  with 
its  fulness.  But  combat  ensues  from  their  presence  continu- 
ally, until  nothing  remains  in  the  man  opposed  to  the  new 
movement  from  the  Lord. 

125.  "And  for  my  name's  sake  hast  laboured,"  signifies,  first, 
that  prior  to  the  opening  of  respiration,  a  flame  proceeds  from 
the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  and  through  His  humanity,  which 
bums,  enveloping  in  seven  lustres  of  prismatic  revolving  light, 

E   2 


G8  ABGANA   OF  GRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

that  inmost  psychical  form,  which  constitutes  the  very  centre 
of  personality.  There  is  tlius  a  flame  of  the  divine  humanity 
of  our  Lord  actually  burning  there  perpetually.  This  flame  is 
guarded  and  tempered  by  Him,  lest  it  should  destroy,  so 
tei'rible  is  it  in  its  naked  brightness.  From  this  period  a 
supernal  reverence  for  the  name  of  Christ  agitates  the  whole 
being.  When  that  Divine  name  is  spoken,  there  is  within  a 
sensation  as  of  the  leaping  of  fire.  It  is  productive  of  a  deep 
delight,  which  cannot  be  described,  and  that  is  overwhelming, 
and  subdues  the  being  into  implicit  obedience.  Henceforth 
Christ  is  received  as  the  One  Infinite  Everlasting  God,  and 
besides  whom  there  is  none  other.  Henceforth  the  spirit  lifts 
itself  internally,  opening  from  within  the  ears  of  the  under- 
standing, to  hear  the  Master  speak.  The  cry  of  the  soul  is, 
"  Lord  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  And  there  is  an 
inmost  determination  to  have  no  kin  but  the  Divine  Father 
and  Redeemer. 

126.  As  this  love  is  the  most  deep  that  can  be  known  in 
the  universe,  so  it  is  the  most  intense.  Others  compared  with 
it  are  all  pale  reflections ;  but  this  the  solar  beam.  From  this 
Divine  flame  break  out  periodically,  burnings,  like  inunda- 
tions, preceded  by  deep  states  of  self-examination  and  humilia- 
tion before  the  Lord.  As  regeneration  advances  and  respira- 
tion is  more  thorough,  the  flames  enlarge  their  circle  and  are 
more  frequent,  until  they  extend  from  the  crown  of  the  head 
to  the  soles  of  the  feet,  and  envelope  the  body  itself;  though 
not  necessarily  to  natural  sight. 

"  For  my  name's  sake  hast  laboured.''^  The  second  significa- 
tion of  this  differs  from  the  former ;  when  the  man,  in  whom 
this  Divine  fire  is  kindled,  begins  to  experience  quickening,  he 
ceases  to  contend.  He  breaks  off  all  endeavours  to  justify 
himself  with  mankind.  He  bears  willingly  and  joyfully  all 
reproaches.  He  is  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a 
sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opens  not  his  mouth. 
He  ceases  from  all  eSbrts  for  the  maintenance  of  personal 
popularity.  He  gives  fame,  position,  influence  to  the  winds 
of  heaven.  Disputatious  strife  is  put  away ;  gathering  the 
spirit  into  a  profound  internal  stillness,  he  awaits  the  pleasure 
of  the  Lord.     If  friends  become  enemies  and  persecute,  he 


SEC.  126—127.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  69 

meekly  receives  the  blow,  and  returns  evil  witli  good.     "  And 
hast  not  fainted/^  signifies,  that  respiration  does  not  cease. 

Chap.  ii.  4. — "  Nevertheless  I  have  somewhat  against  thee, 

BECAUSE    THOU    HAST   LEFT    THY    FIRST   LOVE.''^ 

127.  There  are  relapses,  to  which  the  man  who  is  becoming 
celestial-natural  is  liable,  as  is  to  be  generally  inferred.  "  I 
have  somewhat  against  thee,  because  thou  hast  left  thy  first 
love.^'  Here  it  becomes  necessary  to  speak,  in  generals, 
concerning  the  peculiar  temptations  which  must  attend  the 
opening  of  respiration.  Society  is  barbarism  in  disguise. 
The  decorous  civilizee  learns  from  infancy  to  veil  his  real  self. 
The  odious  Yahoo,  depicted  by  the  great  English  satirist,  in 
the  bitterest  of  all  invectives  against  mankind,  is  a  real  im- 
personation of  a  human  spirit  abandoned  to  self-love.  The 
rational  animal  possesses  a  nobleness  to  which  he  has  no 
claim,  because  there  is  no  ground  for  it  in  his  base  affections. 
To  this  condition  we  are  all  tending  in  civilization,  so  far  as 
we  succumb  to  its  master  influences;  as  witness  that  great 
continental  European  city  which  is  rapidly  becoming  a  second 
Gehenna,  where  the  fires  of  evil  passions  consume  the  bodies 
of  the  living  dead.  Thinly  veiled  with  the  scented  grasses 
and  the  bulbous  flowers  of  a  sweet  and  brilliant  sentiment,  the 
bloom  and  verdure  of  society  repose  upon  the  bosom  of  a 
treacherous  morass,  and  those  who  attempt  to  stir  uj)  its 
hidden  elements,  expose  quagmires  of  corruption.  The  man 
who  becomes  celestial-natural  must  look  realities  in  the  face ; 
must  introspect  humanity.  His  temptation  is  to  forget  the 
hideousness  of  the  vision.  Why  should  he  be  righteous  over- 
much and  so  destroy  himself  ?  Why  afiect  a  sanctity  beyond 
the  philosophy  or  the  wisdom  of  the  age  ?  He  is  beset  by 
treacherous  voices,  wooing  him  into  forgetfulness  of  what  the 
inner  eye  lays  bare,  or  the  inner  light  discloses.  His  state  is 
called  morbid  and  one  of  unwholesome  subjectivity.  Litera- 
ture, the  press,  the  pulpit,  all  social  voices,  whether  tongued 
with  honey  or  with  scorpions,  protest  against  his  animad- 
versions. The  madmen  of  the  world^s  huge  hospital  seat 
themselves  in  judgment  on  his  sanity.  He  becomes,  without 
fault,  a  self-made  outcast  from  former  ties ;  a  revolter  against 


70  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

tlie  very  organic  form,  the  mould  and  pressure  of  his  time. 
He  feels  the  iron  entering  into  his  soul  and  piercing  its 
vitals.  He  leapt  toward  that  inner  light  that  seemed  to 
herald,  in  the  soul,  the  day  of  paradise.  He  dreaip.ed  so  pure 
a  radiance  would  find  the  world  waiting  to  kindle  its  torches 
at  the  flame.  AVliat  shall  he  do  ?  Ho  begins  to  express  the 
truth  that  burns  within  him.  Where  are  the  eager  thousands 
waiting  for  its  advent?  His  life  is  embittered  ;  now  his  body 
is  made  the  theatre  of  a  strange  anguish ;  and  Satan  whispers, 
"  Oh  fool,  fool,  the  world  is  right,  you  are  wrong ;  the 
Avorld  is  sane,  you  are  tending  to  delirium;  abandon  your 
convictions  !  "  "  Nevertheless,''^  saith  our  Lord,  "  I  have 
somewhat  against  thee,  because  thou  hast  left  thy  first  love." 
He  does  leave  his  first  love.  He  bitterly  repents  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes.  Momentary  irresolution  is  followed  by  weeks  of 
anguish,  until  he  is  restored.  When  irresolution  manifests 
itself  in  the  first  stages  of  the  return  of  respiration,  before 
it  is  obvious,  darkness  covers  the  mind,  felt  darkness.  The 
labouring  breast  becomes  a  sea  of  grief.  The  agonies  of  a 
seeming  physical  disease  invade  the  frame,  and  death  is  heard 
at  the  very  doors.  Gnawings  as  of  scorpions  are  felt  within 
the  vital  parts.  The  process  of  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
faculties  being  arrested,  death  and  hell  seek,  the  one  to 
corrupt  the  body,  and  the  other  to  destroy  the  spirit. 

Chap,  ii.  5. — "  E-emembek  therefgee  trom  whence  thou  art 
fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  pirst  works  ;  or  else  i 
will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  will  remove  thy  can- 
dlestick out  op  his  place,  except  thou  repent.''^ 
128.  "  Eemember,^^  signifies,  the  absolute  manifestation  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  His  divine-human  person,  breathing 
into  the  inmosts  a  reviving  flame.     Visitations  occur  to  the 
man  who  is  becoming  celestial-natural.     When  the  Lord  sees 
him  in  the  extremity  of  temptation.  He  visits  him,  not  me- 
diately through  an  angel,  but  dii-ectly,  and  with  His  own  hand 
applies  balms  and  healings  to  the  spirit.     When  once  the  pro- 
cess of  the  new  creation  of  the  man  is  begun,  through  internal 
respiration,  even  in  its  first  incipient  stage,  and  the  receiver 
sufiers  himself  to  give  way  to  the  inversive  movement  of  evil. 


SEC.  128— 131.]        THE   APOCALTFSK  71 

nothing  but  a  direct  operation  of  the  Lord  can  cause  a  resump- 
tion of  tlie  new  movement  in  him.  The  remorse  of  love  then 
takes  possession  of  the  breast,  and  with  it  the  sense  that  we 
have  displeased  the  Lord. 

129.  "From  whence  thou  art  fallen,^^  signifies,  that  anew 
perception  is  imparted,  and  a  restoration  offered.  "  And  re- 
pent/^ signifies,  the  gladness  of  the  celestial-natural  man,  as 
the  Lord^s  mercy  is  revealed.  "And  do  the  first  works,^^ 
signifies,  the  instant  determination,  upon  this,  that  the  Lord^s 
will  shall  be  done  utterly ;  and  that  sins  in  the  body  and 
temptations  without  shall  be  put  down.  "  Or  else  I  will  come 
unto  thee  quickly,'^  signifies,  the  doom  of  those,  who  having 
begun  to  be  celestial-natural,  and  to  receive  the  premonitory 
influxes  of  the  Divine  breath,  which  precede  the  new  creation, 
make  idols  to  themselves.  These  idols  may  be,  first,  covetous- 
ness;  second,  timidity;  third,  pride.  No  man  can  covet  either 
property,  influence,  or  station,  much  less  that  which  belongs 
to  his  neighbom',  and  live  beyond  the  earlier  era  of  the  re- 
opening of  respiration.  No  man  can  halt,  vacillate,  evade 
the  full  force  of  the  Divine  call,  or  attempt  to  enter  into  com- 
promises between  the  new  divine  movement  and  the  world^s 
inversions,  without,  in  like  manner,  withering  in  the  Lord's 
presence.  No  man  can  direct  to  his  own  self-aggrandisement 
the  Infinite  Divine  Glory  in  these  conditions,  without  being 
cast  into  hell. 

130.  "  I  will  come,""'  signifies,  the  method  of  life  extinction. 
The  Lord  withdraws  His  divine  breath.  The  evil  spirits  who 
existed  upon  our  earth  before  the  flood,  and  who,  through  the 
abuses  of  respiration,  were  cast  down,  having  approximated 
into  rapport  with  the  transgressor,  rise  to  take  possession  of 
him,  as  an  agent  of  sorcery.  The  guards  being  withdrawn, 
hell-fire  gushes  into  the  opened  respiratory  organs,  and  the 
body  suffocates.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  some  wiU  perish  by 
this  means.  It  is  said,  "  I  will  come,'''  because  there  is  an 
approximation  of  the  Lord  to  withdraw  that  which  is  of  the 
substance  of  the  new  creation  within  the  man,  who  has  been 
guilty  of  the  final  sin,  and  who  is  given  over,  as  to  his  body, 
to  be  destroyed  by  antediluvian  demons. 

131.  "  Quickly,"  signifies,  the  instantaneousness  of  the  pro- 


72  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.         [ciiap.  ii. 


cess.  In  many  instances  which  might  occur,  consciousness 
will  cease  without  a  moment's  warning,  when  the  fiat  has  gone 
forth.  In  none  will  it  be  protracted,  unless  the  Lord  sees  fit 
to  make  use  of  individuals,  in  the  terrors  of  the  final  state 
from  this  cause,  as  warnings  to  mankind.  ''And  will  remove 
thy  candlestick,''  signifies,  that  all  and  singular  the  vivifying 
principles  and  forms  of  the  new  creation  being  removed  from 
the  man  who  has  begun  to  become  celestial-natural,  and  who 
defiles  himself  with  idols,  and  who  is  cut  off,  he  awakens  in 
the  Earth  of  Spirits,  after  the  cessation  of  natural  life,  in  seven 
particulars  adjudged  to  have  denied  the  Lord. 

132.  First.  For  having  denied  and  sought  to  crucify  the 
Lord,  by  putting  an  end  to  the  process  for  the  new  creation  of 
the  body,  in  so  far  as  affected  through  the  agency  of  the  atomic 
men.  Second.  For  having  denied  the  Lord,  by  destroying 
the  fay-work  in  himself,  as  carried  on  for  the  purpose  of 
eradicating  the  organic  forms  of  the  impure  affections  from 
the  internal  spaces  of  the  body.  Third.  For  having  denied  the 
Lord,  in  resisting  that  divine  process,  by  means  of  which  the 
order  of  the  unfallen  worlds  is  let  down  into  the  will  and  the 
understanding,  and  man,  by  consent  of  love,  re-established  in 
the  harmony  of  the  unfallen  universe.  Fourth.  For  having 
denied  the  Lord,  by  rejecting  the  movement  of  the  world-souls 
for  the  establishment  of  new  motions  in  the  organization,  re- 
sulting from  the  new  harmony  of  creation.  Fifth.  For  having 
crucified  the  Lord,  in  violently  forcing  the  affections  of  the 
will,  and  thence  in  seeking  to  invert  the  respiratory  action  in 
the  body  of  the  lungs,  as  established  through  sympathy  with 
the  ultimate  angels. 

133.  Sixth.  For  having  denied  the  Lord,  in  having  aban- 
doned the  guards  established  for  the  defence  of  the  inter- 
mediate places  of  the  breathing  system ;  for  having  set  up 
anew  the  overthrown  idols  which  God  hates,  within  the  under- 
standing, and  so  far  instituting  anew  the  subversive  movement 
of  thought,  opposed  to  the  order  of  the  spiritual  regions. 
Seventh.  For  having  both  denied  and  crucified  the  Lord,  in 
offering  oblations  to  idols,  and  seeking  to  sacrifice  upon  the  altar 
of  the  false  gods;  for  overthrowing  the  new  creation,  established 
in  the  will  in  first  principles,  and  thus  destroying  the  new 


SEC.  132—135.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  73 

tarmony  in  the  frame;  and  especially  and  finally^  for  instituting 
an  adverse  movement  hostile  to  that  descending  through  the 
celestial  angels.  The  man  is  pronounced  fallen,  and  fallen, 
and  thrice  fallen.  "  Out  of  his  place/^  signifies,  the  blotting 
out  of  his  name  from  the  life-record  of  those  who  are  called 
to  be  kings  and  priests  in  the  new  creation,  and  who  walk 
before  God  in  the  movements  of  the  new  harmony ;  of  which 
more  hereafter. 

134.  ''Except  thou  repent,"  signifies,  that  no  man  loses  his 
place  in  the  new  harmony,  until  the  Lord  sees  that  through 
inmost  perversions,  inclining  the  ear  inmostly  to  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  demons  of  the  lost  orb,  and  warring  in  his 
place  against  the  true  order  of  the  celestial-natural  church, 
now  being  established  in  the  world,  he  is  fixing  his  own  soul 
in  irredeemable  conditions.  Then  he  is  cut  off,  lest,  being  an 
agent  corrupting  many,  the  ruin  in  which  he  is  involved  shall 
be  even  more  disastrous.  It  is  needful  at  this  place  to  insert 
a  solemn  caution.  Some  will  say,  "  Let  us  remain,  eating  and 
drinking,  gathering  unto  ourselves  the  goods  of  the  natural 
world,  keeping  the  letter  of  the  commandments,  and  trusting 
for  salvation  to  the  letter  of  the  law."  Others,  again,  will 
exclaim,  "  The  good  old  way  our  fathers  trod  in,  is  available 
still.  All  will  be  well  with  us  if  we  conform  to  creeds  and 
rituals  of  antiquity,  keeping  our  places  in  the  midst  of  the  re- 
cognised respectabilities  of  our  day."  When  internal  respira- 
tion comes  to  the  man  who  eases  his  conscience  with  such 
palliatives  as  these,  after  having  rejected  the  light  approved 
to  the  inmost  consciousness,  from  the  celestial  sense  of  the 
Word,  he  will  fall  suddenly,  no  preparation  having  been  made 
in  the  quickened  conscience  to  adapt  the  frame  to  the  incom- 
ings of  the  Divine  breath. 

Chap.  ii.  6. — "  But   this  thou  hast,   that  thou  hatest  the 
deeds  op  the  nicolaitanes,  which  i  also  hate." 

135.  By  "  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes,"  is  signified,  inversions 
in  the  body,  mind,  and  spuit  of  the  will ;  the  body,  mind,  and 
spirit  of  the  understanding ;  and  the  body,  mind,  and  spirit 
of  the  ultimate  spiritual  person,  resulting  from  the  anarchical 
movement  of  the  lost  orb.      By  "  this  thou  hast,"   is   signi- 


74  ARCANA   OF  CnBISTIANITT.         [chap.- ii, 

fied,  tliat  so  loug  as  the  man,  who  is  being  quickened  by  the 
descent  of  the  Divine  breath  for  the  development  in  himself 
of  the  new  creation,  organically  maintains  internal  respiration, 
the  end  is  not  with  him ;  in  the  sense  of  the  final  cutting  off. 
Nevertheless  it  is  true,  that  man  may  hold  himself  to  be  main- 
taining this  organical  movement  in  the  respirations,  for  a 
space  after  the  Lord  has  found  him  guilty.  The  recessions  of 
the  breath,  in  some  instances,  are  slow,  and  the  transgressor 
may  delude  himself  with  the  fallacy  that  all  is  well  with  him, 
even  while  he  is  approaching  the  bar  of  final  judgment.  The 
innocent  must  not  suffer  in  the  ruin  of  the  guilty ;  and  after 
the  preliminaries  have  been  estabhshed,  time  is  afforded,  in 
order  that  the  fays  may  remove  the  minor  forms  of  good  and 
truth  led  forth  by  them  into  the  expanses  of  the  frame ; 
otherwise,  both  these  and  the  fays  will  be  liable  to  destruction, 
as  to  the  natural  form  of  their  lives.  By  "  that  thou  hatest," 
is  signified,  that  so  long  as  he  seeks  to  breathe  in  the  new 
movement,  from  its  cause,  which  is  the  Divine  Love  seeking 
to  purify  the  race  and  restore  the  planet,  the  Lord  will  hear 
him  wheu  he  calls,  and  vanquish  his  enemies ;  by  degrees 
perfecting  his  state,  and  making  it  eternal.  "Which  I  also 
hate,''  signifies,  the  infinite  repugnancy  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
against  the  subversive  movement  in  the  internals  and  ex- 
ternals, both  of  the  spirit  and  of  the  body,  of  the  individual 
and  the  collective  man. 

Chap.  ii.   7. — "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let   him   hear  what 
THE    Spirit    saith    unto    the    churches;    To   him   that 

OVERCOMETH    WILL    I    GIVE    TO     EAT    OP    THE     TREE     OP   LIFE, 
WHICH    IS    IN    THE    MIDST     OP    THE    PARADISE     OP    GoD." 

136.  Every  man  called  celestial-natural,  through  whom  the 
descent  of  the  divine  breath  is  carried  on,  in  the  seven-fold 
ascent  and  progress  of  regeneration,  to  its  end,  will  become 
a  composite  man  of  the  Celestial  Heaven.  He  will  receive 
the  redeemed  body  from  first  principles  to  ultimates :  nor  will 
it  be  possible  for  him  to  be  destroyed  by  sickness,  by  fire,  by 
the  sword,  by  the  perils  of  the  deep,  so  long  as  obedient  to 
his  Master's  will,  and  with  an  unfulfilled  calling  in  the  world. 
The   spirits  of  the  primates  and  the  ultimates,   which,  with 


SEC.  136—138.]         TRE  APOGALTPSK  75 

other  men  in  whom  the  new  respiration  is  not,  are  removed 
from  the  spiritual  body  at  physical  decease  and  deposited 
within  the  elements  of  nature, — through  a  process  hereafter  to 
be  spoken  of — ^will  go  up  before  him,  successively,  to  the  place 
that  awaits  him  in  the  Heavens,  constituting  there  the  temple 
of  his  body.  Those  spirits  of  the  primates  and  the  ultimates, 
which  have  been  disintegrated  from  the  atomic  nuclei,  revolv- 
ing in  a  subversive  order  in  the  frame  (see  No.  113),  rise  by 
degrees,  as  the  fay-souls,  indwelling  within  the  life  of  the 
oro-anism,  fulfil  their  terrestrial  cycle  and  are  translated  to 
the  Heavens.  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,"  signifies,  the  celestial- 
natural  man  in  whom  the  Divine  fire  is  kindled  in  the  inmost 
centre  of  the  personality,  and  who  lifts  the  ear  of  the  under- 
standing absolutely  to  hear  and  to  obey  the  Lord^s  voice. 

137.  "Let  him  hear,^"*  signifies,  that  such  things  pertaining  to 
the  new  creation  as  may  be  made  known  to  him,  as  in  this  form 
through  the  natural  senses,  may  be  internally  felt,  perceived, 
judged,  and  with  blessedness  absorbed  into  the  mind  through 
the  listening  attitude  by  which  the  Lord^s  voice  is  heard. 
"  What  the  Spirit  saith,''^  signifies,  an  endless  Divine  utterance, 
by  means  of  which  all  truths,  made  known  objectively,  shall 
increase  through  the  ages  to  the  consummation.  "  Unto  the 
churches,"  signifies,  the  endless  unfolding  of  the  divine  truths 
through  internal  respiration,  to  all  those  in  the  millennial 
state,  which  is  one  of  absolute,  continuous,  conscious,  direct 
obedience  to  every  breath  which  emanates  from  the  holy  spirit 
ot  God.  "  To  him  that  overcometh,"  signifies,  a  final  state 
ot  blessedness  attained  by  the  man  who  becomes  celestial- 
natural.  This  blessedness  is  seven-fold.  All  the  atomic  men, 
insphered  within  the  various  members  of  the  organization, 
having  resolved  to  their  units  the  atomic  nebulio  within  the 
system,  and  having,  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  soles 
of  the  feet,  with  linked  hands  and  with  accordant  breaths, 
become  one  form  circulating  in  the  movements  of  the  celestial 
choir,  cry,  "  It  is  finished." 

138.  All  the  fay-sovds  having  vanquished  every  organic  form 
of  an  evil  or  false  afiection,  throughout  the  organic  lengths  and 
breadths  and  heights*  and  depths,  and  having  seen  that  there 
remains  no  more  to  conquer,  and  having  grouped  themselves  in 


76  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIAN  ITT.         [chap.  ii. 

societies,  according  to  the  fulness  of  the  members  of  the  body 
and  the  great  affections  of  the  spirit,  until  the  whole  subjective 
man  becomes  a  fay  paradise  of  many  Edens ;  seeing  the  Lord's 
divine  glory  everywhere  present,  cry,  "It  is  finished/'  Those 
venerable  and  gracious  harmonic  men  of  the  unfallen  universe, 
who  visited  the  mind  in  the  premonitory  states  of  the  new 
respiration,  having  seen,  that,  as  trees  of  heaven  mirrored  in 
waveless  pools  of  the  waters  of  life,  the  harmonic  truths  of  the 
unfallen  creation  pencil  themselves  with  utmost  accuracy  upon 
the  fluent  mirror  of  the  consciousness,  while  every  pulse  and 
every  electric  vibration  within  the  frame  is  rythmically  true  to 
the  entire  stupendous  movement  of  all  their  starry  scheme ; 
and  that  the  man  has  no  thought  or  feeling  or  passion  opposite 
to  the  wavelets  of  the  divine  impulse  through  time  and  space ; 
cry,  "  It  is  finished/'  The  world-soul  perceives  the  new  man 
in  a  condition  to  be  rightly  delivered  from  the  matrix,  and 
cries,  "  It  is  finished/'  The  ultimate  angels  perceive  the 
body  of  the  spiritual  person,  with  no  member  deficient,  shorn 
of  no  attribute,  revealing  in  plenary  fulness  the  perfect  mea- 
sure of  the  heavenly  sensational  man.  They  breathe  for  the 
first  time  with  no  restriction  through  the  full  body  of  the  re- 
spii'atory  system,  and  cry,  ''  It  is  finished." 

139.  The  spiritual  angels  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.  They  survey  the  beauteous  image  of  the  eternal 
Word,  built  into  the  organic  structures  of  the  person.  Truth 
is  adjusted  to  truth,  as  stone  to  stone,  and  the  base  is  as  pure 
gold,  and  the  superstructure  polished  jewels.  Man  is  lighted 
from  internals  to  externals,  by  a  continuous  shining  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord.  Now  breathing  through  the  uplifted  and 
emancipated  mind  of  the  respirative  organs,  they  cry,  "  It  is 
finished/'  The  celestial  angels,  in  their  eternal  world  of 
cause,  complacently  survey  their  Lord's  triumph.  They  rejoice 
to  behold  their  brother  embraced  within  the  absolute  circum- 
fusing  sphere  of  Messiah.  They  behold  the  instant  divine 
conjunction,  as  the  Lord  in  His  divine  humanity  imprints  the 
final  kiss  upon  the  lips  of  His  accepted  son.  They  behold  the 
baffled  demons  who  shall  molest  him  no  more  for  ever.  They 
perceive  the  Lord's  shekinah  within  the  bosom,  and  listen 
therein  to  the  oracular  voice,  and  cry,  "  It  is  finished."     Even 


SEC.  139— 141.]        THE   APOCALYPSE.  77 

so  come.  Lord  Jesus_,  come  quickly,  Am.en.  "To  Hm  tliat 
overcometli  will  I  give/^  signifies,  tlie  next  state  of  the  celes- 
tial-natural man  beyond  the  earth ;  and  the  conclusion  of  the 
verse  refers  to  a  series  of  states  ascending  to  eternity. 

Chap.  ii.  8. — "And  unto  the  angel  op  the  church  in  Smyrna 
WRITE ;  These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last,  which 

WAS  DEAD,  AND  IS  ALIVE  ;" 

140.  "  Smyrna'^  refers  to  a  second  church  to  be  estabhshed 
on  earth  in  the  new  age,  which  is  to  consist  of  men  who 
shall  respire  through  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  and  who  shall  be 
grounded  principally  in  the  truths  which  pertain  to  the  good 
of  life.  This  church  will  also  be  called  the  new  Eome,  and  its 
government  will  be  a  triplicate  hierarchy,  to  be  spoken  of 
hereafter.  "  Unto  the  angel,''  signifies,  that  the  new  church, 
called  Smyrna,  will  be  evolved  on  earth  by  the  descent  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  thi^ough  seven  heavens  of  the  spiritual  degree, 
"  Of  the  church,"  signifies,  all  who  shall  become  regenerate  of 
that  type  of  men  who,  in  the  new  order,  shall  respire  primarily 
through  the  spiritual  degree  of  the  lungs  into  the  natural, 
in  conjunction  with  the  angels  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  and 
who  shall  be  called  spiritual-natural  as  to  their  new  state. 
"  Smjnrna,''  signifies,  a  divine  body  of  truth,  in  which  they 
shall  respire.  "  Write,''  signifies,  the  open  disclosure  of  the 
divine  revelation  from  the  Word  concerning  the  regeneration 
of  the  spiritual- natural  man. 

141.  By  "  these  things,"  is  to  be  understood,  a  perpetual 
unfolding  from  the  Word,  exceedingly  composite  and  rich  in 
its  character.  "  Saith,"  signifies,  that  the  Lord  will  talk,  in 
the  fulness  of  his  state,  with  the  spiritual-natural  man,  as  in 
the  midst  of  the  angels  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven.  "  The  first 
and  the  last,"  signifies,  derivatively,  the  knowledge  of  the  past 
and  the  future  creations;  the  past  unfolding  from  the  first 
harmony,  and  the  future  from  the  new  harmony  descending 
from  the  Lord.  "Which  was  dead,"  signifies,  ai'cana  con- 
cerning seven  degrees  of  descent,  by  means  of  which  the  old 
harmony  of  the  universe  expired  in  the  body  of  the  Lord. 
"  And  is  ahve,"'  signifies,  seven  degrees  of  ascent,  by  means  of 
which  the  new  harmony  of  the  universe  became  established 


78  ARCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ir. 

tlirougli  tlie  glorified  body  of  the  Lord.     All  those  knowledges 
pertain  especially  to  the  spiritual-natural  man,  as  will  bo  seen. 

Chap.  ii.  9.  —  "I    know   thy  works,   and   tribulation,   and 

POVERTY,  (but  thou  ART  RICh)  AND  I  KNOW  THE  BLASPHEMY 
OP  THEM  WHICH  SAY  THEY  ARE  JeWS,  AND  ARE  NOT,  BUT 
ARE   THE  SYNAGOGUE  OP  SATAN." 

142.  "I  know,"  signifies,  as  before,  the  descent  of  the  new 
creation  through  internal  respiration,  into  the  minds  of  such  as 
are  becoming  spiritual -natural.  "  Tribulation,"  signifies,  the 
intensity  of  the  anguish  through  which  the  man  who  is  called 
spiritual- natural  must  pass,  from  the  proclivity  of  his  mind,  in 
its  dead-natural  form,  to  reasoning  from  externals  to  internals, 
and  for  rejecting  faith. 


FIT^TH  ILLUSTEATION. 

Sorrows,  perplexities,  and  hallucinations  of  natural  scientists  in  the  World 
of  Spirits.     Alexander  Von  Humboldt  and  his  experiences  there. 

143.  Shortly  after  the  bodily  decease  of  the  celebrated  savant, 
Alexander  Von  Humboldt,  I  beheld  him  in  company  with  two 
angelic  men;  one  of  them  Copernicus,  and  the  other  Kepler. 
They  were,  as  to  locahty,  in  one  of  the  provinces  of  the  upper 
Earth  of  Spirits  connected  with  our  globe.  Two  evil  spirits, 
in  one  of  whom  I  recognised  a  likeness  to  Diderot,  the  French 
encyclopedist,  while  of  the  other,  a  German,  I  had  no  know- 
ledge,— approached  for  purposes  of  temptation.  At  the  same 
time,  a  recent  king  of  Prussia  was  not  far  distant,  and  beheld 
the  sight. 

144.  The  angelic  men  were  endeavouring  to  instruct  this 
ci-devant  philosopher  and  naturalist,  that,  by  means  of  the 
ascent  of  the  afiections  in  prayer  toward  the  Lord,  the  inhabit- 
ant of  the  spiritual  world  is  able  to  ascend  mountains  with 
ease;  and  that  the  rapidity  of  the  ascension  depends  upon  a 
peculiar  intensity  in  worship.  "  First,"  said  they,  "  convince 
yourself  that  this  before  you  is  a  real  mountain."  This  he  did, 
bringing  in  his  hand  a  piece  of  copper  ore  from  a  boulder  at 
its  base.     When  he  had  thus  done,  one  of  them  said  to  him. 


SEC.  142—146.]         TRB   APOCALTFSK  79 

"  It  is  more  wonderful,  tliis  mountain,  tlian  Cotopaxi.  The  trees 
of  tlie  tropical-celestial  world  grow  toward  its  summit.  In  its 
middle  expanse  there  is  a  temperate  zone,  with  a  correspond- 
ing flora  and  fauna ;  and  toward  its  feet  regions  of  moorland, 
barren  as  they  descend.  The  air  is  more  balmy  and  odori- 
ferous and  also  more  stimulating  as  one  rises.  There  are 
spiritual  philosophers  residing  midway,  in  a  district  that 
abounds  with  the  finest  silver,  and  which  is  indeed  an  inex- 
haustible Potosi.  In  a  region  above  this  is  a  noble,  golden 
country,  with  all  of  the  rich  luxuriance  of  the  tropics.  There 
reside  sages  of  a  celestial  wisdom,  at  whose  feet  we  might  sit 
as  babes.''-' 

145.  The  philosopher  began  to  ask  questions  concerning  the 
mountain,  and  wished  to  prove  that  the  statement  must  be 
incorrect ;  arguing  that  ascensions  must  be  from  one  degree 
of  cold  to  another  more  intense.  One  of  the  angelic  men  in 
answer  to  this,  proposed  to  ascend  a  certain  distance  into  the 
mild,  temperate  zone,  and  bring  back  branches  from  the  fruit- 
bearing  trees  in  the  orchards.  The  philosopher  consented  to 
this,  and  with  great  astonishment  beheld  Kepler  gliding 
rapidly  upward,  with  feet  that  did  not  seem  to  touch  the  soil. 
Soon  after  the  traveller  returned  and  was  seen  descending  as 
before,  bearing  branches  of  apples  and  pears  fully  ripe  and 
dehcious  both  to  taste  and  smell.  A  little  winged  boy  stood 
by  them  at  the  same  moment,  or  one  who  thus  appeared,  wear- 
ing upon  his  head  a  chaplet  of  myrtle  flowers  and  leaning 
upon  a  golden  caducous.  "  See  this  messenger,^^  one  of  the 
angehc  men  began  again ;  "  he  is  more  swift  than  fabled 
Mercury.  I  will  request  him  to  ascend  rapidly  to  the  nobler 
mountain-land  above  the"  clouds,  and  gather  a  specimen  of 
products  from  the  fruit-trees  there.'''  The  child,  borne  upward 
in  the  balmy  atmosphere,  rapidly  ascended  at  their  request 
and  speedily  returned,  his  locks  and  garments  dripping  with 
spices.  The  pomegranate,  orange,  nutmeg  and  cinnamon  were 
among  the  branches  in  his  hand. 

146.  The  philosopher  now  cried,  '^Perhaps  you  will  ac- 
company me ;  I  should  much  like  to  ascend  the  mountain." 
At  this  joined  them  a  man  clad  in  royal  purple,  whose  majes- 
tic countenance,  of  a  golden  colour,  radiated  glories  as  the 


80  AECANA    OF   CEBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

disc  of  a  sun.  The  shoes  also  upon  his  feet  shone  with  a  golden 
gleam.  Smiling  with  incredible  sweetness,  he  accosted  Hum- 
boldt in  words  like  these ;  "  Thou  hast  a  desire  to  journey  to  the 
top  of  this  elevation.  Thou  hast  been  journeying  all  thy  days. 
Advance  one  step  above  the  level."  Seeing  that  the  angeHc 
men  moved  on,  commencing  the  ascent,  the  new  comer  from 
the  earth  followed  them.  On  the  level  he  could  walk,  but  as 
the  elevation  began,  he  came  to  a  dead  halt,  declaring  that 
there  was  magnetic  iron  beneath  the  soil,  that  seized  upon  the 
particles  of  iron  in  his  blood  and  j&xed  him  to  the  spot.  A 
mao-net  was  given  him  for  the  purpose  of  testing,  and  after 
gravely  using  it,  still  in  his  fixed  posture,  he  concluded  that 
there  was  no  ii'on  there,  and  that  the  soil  was  of  a  copper 
pyrites  and  more  solid  than  granite. 

147.  He  now  began  to  sink  bodily  into  the  rock  on  whicli 
lie  stood,  and  soon  his  feet  had  disappeared  to  the  ankles.  At 
this  he  turned  to  the  glorious  sage  arrayed  in  purple,  asking 
what  it  meant.  The  answer  was,  that  below  that  mountain 
was  hell ;  that  the  reason  why  he  sank  was,  that  a  society  of 
evil  spirits  were  attracting  liim  downward,  and  that  his  foot- 
hold upon  the  upper  soil  could  be  maintained  only  through, 
prayer.  He  began  to  sneer  when  the  word  "  hell "  was  men- 
tioned. The  sage  mildly  and  gravely  rebuked  him,  observing 
that  sneers  were  for  the  ignorant,. not  for  the  wise;  and  that 
the  philosopher,  when  novel  experiences  presented  themselves 
should  seek  to  know  their  cause.  To  this  he  answered,  that, 
in  his  interior  mind,  he  had  not  believed  for  many  years  that 
devils  or  that  hells  had  any  existence,  except  in  myths,  and 
that  there  were  philosophical  truths  confuting  them. 

148.  While  fixed  thus  in  the  rock,  and  still  slowly  sinking, 
two  demons,  who  had  been  his  invisible  and  unsuspected  fami- 
liars while  on  earth,  exclaimed  together,  "  Who  is  there,  being 
wise,  but  that  esteems  the  Jewish  mythology  a  relict  of  barba- 
rism?" Humboldt  turned  eagerly,  as  if  the  voices  had  something 
famihar  in  them ;  and  then  observed  a  way  winding  down- 
ward through  rock-crevices.  "  0  venerable  sage,  what  fictions 
have  these  miners  and  harlequins  been  attempting  to  palm  off 
upon  you !  "  cried  the  elder  of  the  demons.  "  You  are  now 
upon  the  moorlands  of  superstition,  above  which  are  the  mis 


SEC.  147— 151.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  81 

and  fantasy  regions  of  moon-struck  niinds^  to  whom  a  cloudy 
romance  of  religion  is  congenial.  But  follow  us ;  we  are 
about  to  return  by  a  -winding  road  over  the  lower  declivities 
of  this  mountain.  ]\Iidway  down  you  will  find^  as  experience 
and  reason  would  suggest,  a  salubrious,  temperate  region,  and 
finally,  at  its  base,  the  tropics  of  wMcli  you  are  in  search." 
At  this  moment  he  suddenly  beheld  two  inscriptions  in  the 
German  language.  The  one  was  upon  a  hand-board  pointing 
to  the  ra\ane  through  which  the  demons  had  risen ;  "  Wide  is 
the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  destruction. ■'■' 
The  other  hand-board,  jDointing  to  the  path  up  the  mountain, 
bore  upon  its  palm  the  text,  "  Strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow 
is  the  way,  that  leadeth  unto  life." 

149.  One,  resembhng  Neander,  with  an  honest,  upward- 
looking  face,  now  approached,  and  Humboldt  turned  to  him  as 
to  a  countryman,  asking  what  it  meant,  that  such  contradictory 
statements  should  be  made  to  him.  The  new  comer  answered, 
"  Herr  Von  Humboldt,  you  are  dead  and  in  the  Spirit  Earth  j 
Hell  being  underneath,  and  Heaven  on  high."  He  screamed 
at  this  and  shuddered,  exclaiming,  "  I.  am  not  dead.  Every- 
thing about  me  is  corporeal.  The  Spirit  Land  is  vacuity  and 
intangibility.  Tell  me,  what  is  this  ? "  lifting  up  again  a 
piece  of  the  copper  at  his  feet.  His  agonies  were  frightful  to 
behold,  as  in  spite  of  his  denial,  it  dawned  upon  him  that  he 
was,  to  use  his  own  term,  "  a  ghost." 

]oO.  While  this  wise  man  of  the  Earth,  but  bewildered 
seeker  of  the  Spu'itual  World,  utterly  confounded,  stood  medi- 
tating, devout  Moravian  women  of  a  former  age  were  heard 
singing  from  a  little  chapel,  in  the  midst  of  a  small  wood  over 
a  brow  of  the  elevation.  The  sweet  tones,  like  a  di"eam  of 
infancy,  melted  into  the  heart,  and  the  aged  man  exclaimed, 
"  If  this  be  a  reality  my  life  has  been  a  dream."  Slowly,  at 
this,  he  began  to  rise,  until  his  feet  were  delivered  from  the 
bondage  of  the  metallic  sod.  This  illustration  carries  its  own 
forcible  moral. 


151.  To  reconstruct  science,  from  knowledge  of  the  instant 
operation  of  an  immediate  personal  God,  infinitely  hostile  to 


82  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  [cuap.  ii. 

the  ao-o-ressive  movcMiiont  in  the  universe,  who  clothed  Himself 
with  a  form  in  nature,  for  the  purpose  of  eradicating  evil 
from  nature,  and  who  manifested  Himself  as  man,  that  He 
might  vanquish  the  spiritual  inversions  in  man,  will  be  the 
chief  intellectual  employment  of  the  child  of  the  new  age,  who 
becomes  through  open  respiration,  spiritual-natural.  These 
are  the  meek  who  shall  inherit  the  earth,  by  penetrating  to  the 
divine  laws  which  manifest  themselves  in  the  varied  processes 
of  creation  and  of  re-creation.  Given,  as  a  starting  point,  the 
divine  fire,  which  makes  all  things  new,  in  the  centre  of  the 
personality,  and  in  conjunction  with  it,  breathings  from  the 
Lord  in  harmony  with  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  continued  into 
the  lungs  in  their  natural  degree,  and  Humboldt  would  not 
have  been  less,  but  far  more,  the  philosopher.  His  mountain 
of  laboriously  constructed  formulas  brings  forth  the  smallest  of 
pilfering  and  burromng  animals,  squeaking  with  a  ridiculous 
and  effeminate  voice  against  the  majestic  verities  of  the  true 
religion.  The  reader  of  his  "  Cosmos  "  is  lost  in  vague  con- 
jecture at  every  point  beyond  the  merest  rim  of  matter.  In  all 
that  pertains  to  the  real,  as  opposed  to  the  phenomenal,  the 
closed  scientists  are  irrational  men,  and  few  of  them  exhibit 
more  than  a  dubious  sanity  after  their  entrance  into  the 
spiritual  world,  where  most  of  them  are  pantheists.  To  reason 
from  Christ  and  from  the  love  and  wisdom  and  operation  of 
Christ  into  nature,  is  the  test  of  real  sanity.  We  may  well  be 
apprehensive  that  those  fixed,  in  heart  repugnancy,  against 
reasoning  in  this  manner,  will  perish  at  last  in  the  confirmed 
madness  of  the  Hells. 

152.  "And  tribulation,^^  signifies  also,  crises  of  deliverance 
appointed  for  the  purification  of  the  will  and  the  reconstruction 
of  the  understanding,  of  such  as  become,  through  respiration, 
spiritual-natural.  The  angels  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven  think 
and  reason  from  the  Lord.  The  scientist  of  the  Earth  thinks 
and  reasons  from  himself.  The  first  lesson  for  the  man  of  the 
type  we  are  considering,  who  would  enter  into  life,  is  to  sup- 
press his  thoughts  when  self-derived.  To  assist  him,  when 
earnestly  he  seeks  the  divine  aid  for  this  end,  the  Lord  causes 
seven  processes  to  be  wrought  upon  and  in  him.  First,  cold 
shiverings  throughout  the  entire  person,  as  of  a  coming  ague. 


SEC.  152—153.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  83 

Tliis  is  indicative  of  an  angel's  presence,  wlio  is  cliarged  with 
pouring  into  tlie  ultimate  organs  of  tlie  cerebrum  the  spiritual 
fire,  which  is  kindred  to  the  intelligence  of  the  Spiritual 
Heaven.  When  we  consider  that  in  the  process  of  thought, 
midtitudes  of  organic  entities  are  evolved  from  the  internal 
organs  of  the  brain,  and  that  these  are  forms  of  ideas,  we  shall 
understand  the  object  of  the  process.  The  fire  which  the 
angel  pours  forth,  being  opposed  to  the  quality  of  the  heat  in 
which  these  are  generated,  chills  them,  until  paralysis  ensues. 
The  icy  torpor  into  which  they  fall,  aflects  by  correspondence, 
the  brain. 

153.  Discussions,  whether  oral  or  epistolary,  in  all  cases 
conducted  in  and  from  the  promptings  of  the  self-derived 
intelligence,  characterize  the  man  of  scientific  attainments, 
who  is  in  the  inverted  state ;  nor  can  he  conceive  that  truth 
should  grow  in  the  world,  by  a  silent  operation  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  the  human  faculties,  and  by  a  divine  periception 
in  the  spiritual  degree  of  the  mind  of  the  causes,  forms 
and  relations  of  ideas ;  and  of  the  relation  of  divine  for.ces  to 
natural  phenomena.  Those  who,  being  quickened  from  this 
dead  state,  look  to  the  Lord  for  new  vibrations  from  Himself 
which  shall  institute  new  movements  of  the  divine  harmony  in 
the  intellectual  system,  experience  keen  anguish  throughout  the 
region  of  the  left  viscera  descending  from  the  heart,  acoom.- 
panied  by  a  sensation  of  paralysis  extending  to  the  extremities. 
The  loves  of  science  reside  in  their  embodied  forms,  in  this 
portion  of  the  system.  Intense  intellectual  action  after  the 
subversive  manner  now  practised,  is  to  them,  in  their  organic 
forms  and  lives,  so  far  as  they  are  of  self-derived  origin,  the 
very  essence  of  delight,  and  periodically  they  insist  upon  their 
gratification ;  while  their  urgent  inner  cries  are  mistaken  for 
inspirations  by  the  natural  man.  Their  typical  name  is 
"  Wormwood,''  for  which  see  more  in  another  place.  Angels 
who  are  in  the  divine  love  of  science,  and  who  are  of  the 
Spiritual  Heaven,  when  conjunction  is  estabhshed  and  the 
Lord  sees  fit  to  answer  praj^ers  for  the  objects  stated  before, 
pour  forth  a  second  fiery  element  upon  these,  which  destroys 
them  by  multitudes,  and  the  perturbations  of  the  animal  spirits 
and  apparent  sensations  of  incipient  palsy  auuouucc  their  death. 

F  2 


84  ARCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

154.  The  ability  for  rapid  utterance,  for  arranging  ideas  in 
crystalline  order,  and  for  defining  tliem  Avitli  matliomatical 
precision,  yet  wholly  in  the  selfhood  and  in  its  dead  intelli- 
gence, is  the  means  by  which  the  scholar  of  this  type  acquires 
and  maintains  pre-eminence.  The  organs  of  the  cerebrum,  in 
conjunction  with  the  basal  faculties,  swarm  with  millions  of 
embodied  ideas  which  are  false  in  their  essence.  These  ideas 
rush  to  utterance,  making  their  possessor  seem  wise,  brilliant, 
and  accurate.  When  ho  begins  to  die  as  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  selfhood,  and  to  be  quickened  for  the  reception  of  the 
divine  harmonics  of  the  new  creation,  giddiness  of  the  brain 
ensues,  and  the  former  power  of  marshalling  facts  of  science  to 
confirm  or  illustrate  natural  hypotheses,  begins  to  pass  away. 
A  third  angel  of  the  Spiritual  Heavens  laves  the  surfaces  of  the 
mental  system  with  a  fluid  element  akin  to  the  whitest  flame  of 
truth ;  which  causes  these  defined  ideas,  in  their  organic  lives, 
to  fall  in  heaps,  as  if  plague  stricken.  They  lie  in  the  streets 
of  that  great  city  of  the  cerebrum,  which  spiritually  is  called 
"Sodom  and  Egj'pt;^'  where  also  in  the  denial  of  creation  from 
Christ,  "  the  Lord  is  crucified,"  until  there  are  not  left  living 
aSections  to  remove  the  dead.  A  childish  confusion  of  the 
thoughts,  coupled  with  a  strange  incompetency,  now,  for  a 
time,  prevails  as  the  result. 

155.  A  fourth  tribulation  is  occasioned,  when  through  the 
re-opening  of  respiration,  celestial  fay  angels  descend  into  the 
highest  degree  of  the  brain,  working  there  by  correspondence 
into  the  inmosts  of  the  mental  structures.  A  white  bolt  of  cold 
lightning  seems  striking  through  the  spinal  marrow  affecting 
sensationally  the  ganglions.  It  produces  inabihty  consecutively 
to  converse  from  causes  in  nature  to  natural  effects,  which  is 
the  forte  of  the  inverted  scientist.  Nature  seems  collapsing 
before  the  mental  eye  and  the  deluge  to  overspread  the  scien- 
tific world,  in  which  the  mountains  and  the  earths  of  a  science 
that  exists  solely  in  appearances  sink  from  sight.  This  state 
is  accompanied  constantly  by  painful  dreams,  by  loathings  of 
food,  by  the  decline  of  the  capacity  for  joys  in  the  natural 
body,  and  by  a  sensation  as  if  the  end  of  all  things  were  very 
nigh.  The  lusts  of  reasoning  from  appearances  and  of  confirm- 
ing the  fallacy  that  nature  is  God,  denying  that  the  Lord  Jesus 


SEC.  154—157.]         THJE   jrOQALYPSE.  85 


Christ  is  tlie  Creator^  actually  breed  a  species  of  parasitical 
insects  too  minute  for  vision.  These  are  the  infinitesimal 
forms  of  what  appear  to  gross  sight  as  polypes  and  their 
congeners^  residing  principally  in  the  nerve- spirit.  In  their 
aggregation  they  become  monstrous ;  wrapping  in  multitu- 
dinous folds  the  various  organs  ;  darting  to  and  fro  with  incre- 
dible velocity^  tearing  and  rending  one  another,  and  abstract- 
ing for  their  food,  the  finest  essence  from  the  animal  spirits. 
There  is  not  a  single  member  of  the  frame  exempt  from  their 
presence.  Man  carries  them  with  him,  as  to  their  most  living 
principles,  into  the  world  of  spirits,  where  they  become  in 
then'  appearance,  embodied  and  diabolical  ferocities. 

156.  Spiritual  angels  inject  into  that  region  of  the  natural 
soul  which  such  inhabit,  an  exquisitely  delicious  pabulum  like 
embodied  nectar,  which  these  creatures  eagerly  feed  upon.  To 
introduce  this  into  the  region  which  they  occupy  in  the  frame 
causes  a  commotion  there,  such  as  would  be  produced  in  a 
tropical  harbour,  whose  waters  are  infested  by  the  shark  and 
the  most  venomous  serpents,  were  little  children  helplessly  to 
be  cast  amongst  them.  They  rise,  eager  to  devour ;  but  the 
food  inciting  them  to  the  full  development  of  their  inmost 
essence,  which  is  hate,  prompts  them  to  mutual  destruction. 
It  is  during  this  transition  state  that  the  man  has  dreams  in 
which  serpent  combats  and  analogous  images  predominate ; 
though  there  are  variations.  When  this  state  begins  to  abate, 
or  sometimes  during  its  height,  as  well  as  afterward,  disrelish 
for  all  books,  and  wandering  thoughts  during  the  pursuit  of 
fondly  loved  scientific  explorations,  begin  to  be  manifest.  A 
something  almost  defined  and  of  the  nature  of  the  filmy,  watery 
cloud,  swims  between  the  vision  and  the  page.  It  announces 
the  decline  of  the  perceptions  for  science  in  the  selfhood. 

157.  There  are  now  within  the  abdominal  region,  slight 
internal  swellings,  continued  in  many  instances  to  the  groin, 
and  a  feeling  of  the  transfer  of  sensation  from  the  cerebrum 
to  those  localities.  When  this  occurs  with  a  corresponding 
desire  to  walk  erect  with  expanded  lungs,  while  tlio  whole  in- 
ternal being  seems  melting  in  contrite  tenderness  and  reveren- 
tial Avorship  before  the  felt  presence  of  tlic  Lord,  tlie  most 
agonising  of  the  crises  are  safely  past.    The  abdominal  I'Optilia, 


86  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [cuap.  ii. 

that  swim  witliin  tlie  nervous  fluid,  correspondiug-  in  type  to 
the  extinct  monsters  of  the  lizard  race,  gasp  and  swell  and 
float  in  death  swoons.  The  correspondential  scenery  within 
the  bosom, — which  was  before  a  cursed  land,  alternating  from 
terrific  heats,  beneath  which  great  serpents  with  a  musky  and 
fetid  odour  sweltered  in  the  sands,  to  hyperborean  winter, 
where  the  ice  and  snow-clouds  congeal  into  death-like,  moving 
apparitions, — begins  to  change.  There  are  children  in  flower- 
enameled  plains  and  smiling  pastures,  where  they  lead  the 
tamed  lion  or  adorn  with  chaplcts  the  snow-white  lamb.  A 
fifth  angel  of  the  Spii"itual  Heaven  causes  destructions  prior  to 
this  delightful  change,  by  distilling  through  the  nervous  fluids 
in  the  life  of  the  abdomen,  a  celestial  vapour  which  sufib- 
cates  the  noxious  creatures  there. 

158.  When  the  sixth  angel  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven  ap- 
proaches, the  man  of  this  quality  who  is  preparing  to  be  made 
spiritual-natural,  might,  if  not  otherwise  instructed,  imagine 
that  the  days  of  his  terrestrial  career  were  drawing  to  a  close. 
The  dear  faces,  fondly  remembered  from  first  infancy,  dimly 
ghde  through  the  recollections  of  the  waking  hours.  A  tender 
sadness,  gentle  and  infantile,  disposes  the  eyes  to  a  soft  dew 
which  yet  but  seldom  forms  itself  into  tears.  There  are  ter- 
rible perturbations  at  intervals,  when  the  dethroned  scientific 
lusts  of  the  natural  man,  embodied  in  more  subtle,  invisible 
affections  than  have  yet  been  brought  to  judgment,  seem  for- 
cing the  whole  being  into  the  channels  of  its  former  life.  The 
hells  invade  him  at  this  time  by  means  of  creations  pro- 
jected into  the  finer  part  of  nature  through  obsessed  human 
media,  and  wandering  spirits.  Should  he  incautiously  become 
familiar  with  spiritual  manifestations,  in  their  common  form 
through  seances,  a  new  brood  of  embodied  evil  lusts  invade 
him  from  without ;  not  self-born,  but  ascending  from  demons 
through  their  subjects  in  the  natural  world.  These  have  power 
to  develop  passional  madness.  They  are  an  actual  locust  in 
first  principles  depositing  in  the  forms  of  the  natural  soul  their 
ova ;  in  many  instances  a  million  from  one. 

159.  The  ova  become  in  their  second  stage,  voracious  larvae, 
subsisting  upon  the  fine  essence  in  the  nerves,  and  projecting 
through  their  persons  a  triple  forked  string.     They  finally  at- 


SEC.  158— i6i.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  87 

tack  tlie  brain.  Sliould  they  not  be  met  by  a  counter  divine 
influence,  after  a  series  of  years,  dependent  for  tlieir  number 
upon  tlie  rapidity  of  tbe  life-processes,  utter  naturalism  would 
develop  itself  tbrougb  tbe  intellect,  and  an  absolute  madness 
of  the  internal  mind.  But  there  are  counteracting  processes 
provided  in  the  Divine  Providence.  The  sixth  angel  from  the 
Spiritual  Heaven  wars  against  the  larvae  from  without,  which 
continually  invade  the  spirit  of  the  nerves,  there  to  deposit 
their  ova,  and  eventually  to  develop  the  madness  of  internal 
atheism.  God  smites  the  media  who,  being  warned,  lay  them- 
selves open  to  anonymous  spirits,  being  unable  to  discriminate 
between  the  workings  of  the  Divine  Spirit  and  the  invasions 
of  Antichrist. 

160.  It  is  the  province  of  the  angel  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven 
who  ministers  in  this  sixth  crisis,  to  unlock  the  spiritual  degree 
of  the  understanding,  and  to  let  forth  into  the  natural  mind, 
the  things  that  are  therein.  When  the  latent,  invisible  false- 
hoods nourished  there  during  the  former  subversive  states,  are 
let  down  into  the  natural  degree  of  the  mind,  he  pours  forth  upon 
it  the  elixir  of  life,  which,  distilled  from  aromatic  plants  in  the 
inmost  of  the  fivefold  worlds  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  revives 
from  torpor  the  slumbering  affections  for  divine  things  within 
the  human  spirit.  But  the  opposition  of  quality  is  so  great 
that  the  flames  burst  forth  from  centres  to  circumferences 
through  these  evil  forms,  and  are  destructive.  The  man  then 
feels  as  if  he  could  wash  his  hands  of  false  science.  He  loathes 
the  empirical  speculations  of  the  dead  natural  mind,  and  de- 
lights chiefly  in  prayer  and  the  Word,  which  now  begins  to 
become  unspeakably  precious  in  its  internal  senses. 


SIXTH  ILLITSTEATION. 

False  scientists  in  the  Spiritual  Hell— A  scientilic  congress  on  Earth.— In- 
spirations received  by  false  scientists  on  Earth,  from  the  Spiritual  Ilell. 

101.  I  saw  in  the  depths  of  the  Intermediate  Hell,  a  mighty 
man  of  tlie  eighteenth  century,  confirmed  in  the  impieties  of  a 
godless  life.  Here  he  was  famous  for  reasoning  iVoin  the  ap- 
pearances of  the  natural  world,  and  deducing  from  theiu  argu- 


88  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

mcnts  a2:ainst  internal  things  of  true  reason  and  the  Word  of 
God.  The  Lord  caused  mo  to  approach  him,  and  gave  me 
words  in  which  to  converse.  I  cried,  "  Hail,  0  man  !  do  you 
teach  here  ?  "  The  answer  was,  "  I  am  no  man ;  but  Science, 
and  Nature  ;  I  create.  I  am  also  Chronos,  consuming  mine  own 
creations,  to  reproduce  them  again  in  new  forms  of  being  from 
the  one  substance,  myself.  I  am  the  absolute  Ego,  and  the  su- 
preme Reason  of  the  Cosmos ;  but  at  present  only  generate  more 
ancient  t}^es."  I  replied,  "  AVhat  is  the  origin  of  species  ?  " 
He  answered,  "  There  is  but  one  substance,  of  which  I  am  the  sole 
body ;  but  one  life,  and  I  am  its  essence.  Beyond  me  there  is 
nothing.  All  things  are  in  me,  and  I  am  in  all  things,  and 
they  are  the  projections  of  one  absolute  Ego ;  I  am  He.^'  On 
the  left  side  came  up  a  silly  spirit,  who  nudging  me  on  the 
elbow  whispered,  "Be  reverent;  that  is  God.''  I  perceived 
internally,  through  illnniination  from  the  Lord,  that  I  saw 
before  mc  a  scientist,  sunken  from  terrestrial  to  infernal  states. 
Chanting  a  wild  incantation,  the  demon  cried,  "  I  will  bring 
forth  annelides.''  Then  grew  out  through  his  arms  into  a  spiritual 
exjianse  like  waters,  which  enveloped  him,  huge  primitive  sea 
worms.  Continuing  the  chant,  his  breast  opened  with  a  sudden 
gush  of  fire,  in  the  midst  of  which  were  teeming  waters,  and 
the  subjective  reptilia  grew  enlarged  as  they  issued  from  his 
lungs  and  wantoned  in  this  foul  lethean  pool. 

162,  After  this  the  Lord  opened  my  eyes  in  the  spirit,  and 
led  me  into  a  scientific  congress ;  one  of  those  scientific  con- 
gresses upon  the  earth,  where  one  of  the  chief  exponents  of  the 
natural  sciences  of  the  present  day,  whose  name  I  do  not  here 
mention,  was  delighting  a  group  with,  a  discourse  on  palseon- 
tology;  and  his  invisible  demon,  the  inspiring  genius  of  his 
pursuits,  was  the  infernal  scientist  who  had  called  himself 
"  the  absolute  Ego.''  As  the  earthly  scientist  discoursed  that 
the  source  of  all  things  was  in  nature,  the  gloomy  demon  ex- 
cited the  propellant  organs  of  the  brain,  and  thought,  as  it  were, 
through  it,  until  the  natural  savant  felt  himself  to  be,  in  his 
personality,  a  continuation  of  this  pseudo  god. 


IGo.    The    seventh    angel    of    the    Spiritual    Heaven   most 
deeply  operant  from  the  Lord  in  the  system  of  the  man  who 


SEC.  162—165.]         THE   AFOCALYFSE.  89 

is  becoming  spiritual-natural^  evolves,  after  tlie  former  process, 
the  hidden  forms  witliin  the  spiritual  degTee  of  the  will,  and 
they  descend  as  before,  when  the  inmost  lusts  for  reasoning  from 
appearances,  and  for  a  dead  philosophy,  lost  in  the  seemings 
and  the  shows  of  things,  flutter  upon  the  lower  surfaces  of  the 
mind  to  a  short-Hved  career ;  being  destroyed  by  the  flame 
which  goes  forth  from  the  Lord,  through  the  Spiritual  Heaven 
and  through  the  inmosts  of  the  angels  there.  After  this  comes 
peace.  All  this  is  signified  in  the  phrase  '^  tribulation,^^  ad- 
verted to  before. 

164.  "And  poverty,  but  thou  art  rich,^^  signifies,  that  when 
the  man  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural  through  opened 
respiration  has  gone  through  the  wastings,  spoken  of  before, 
the  pride  and  the  conceit  have  passed  away.  He  is  humble  before 
the  Lord,  and  becomes  at  the  same  time  inly  opulent  in  the 
divine  forms  of  science. 

165.  "When  the  Lord  in  His  divine  providence,  ended  the 
terrestrial  labours  of  His  servant,  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the 
spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  expounded  through  his  labours, 
should  have  served,  in  conjunction  with  its  illustrations,  as  an 
agent  for  intromitting  its  readers  into  states  for  the  percep- 
tion of  truth  from  good,  ''  I  know  the  blasphemy,^^  signifies, , 
the  abominations  committed  by  those  who  avail  themselves 
of  truths  pertaining  to  the  knowledges  of  the  spiritual- 
natural  man,  and  who  engender  strife  and  controversy,  and 
libel  the  name  of  the  holy  city  descending  from  God,  the 
New  Jerusalem,  by  claiming  to  represent  it  to  mankind.  "  Of 
them  which  say  they  are  Jews,^^  signifies,  the  assumptions  of 
those,  who  in  the  carnal  letter  of  a  dead  faith  springing  from 
no  internal  divine  source,  assume  to  be  of  the  New  Church, 
because  they  are  able  to  see,  in  the  natural  mind,  and  to  reason 
concerning  the  things  revealed  in  the  spiritual  sense  of  the 
AVord.  "  And  are  not,"  signifies,  that  such  are  out  of  all 
churches  and  only  in  the  shams  and  subterfuges  of  ecclesiasti- 
cism.  "  But  are  the  synagogue  of  Satan,"  signifies,  an  inver- 
sive  movement  from  the  Hells,  but  especially  centering  in  the 
Spiritual  Hell,  against  the  descent  of  that  new  harmony  from 
the  Lord,  which  is  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem. 


90  ARCANA    OF    CURISTIANITY.  [chap,  ii- 

Chap.  ii.  10. — "  Feau  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt 
suffer  :  behold,  the  devil  shall  cast  some  op  you  into 
prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried ;  and  ye  shall  have  tribula- 
tion ten  days  :  be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  i  will 
give  thee  a  crown  op  life." 

IGG.  This  is  proplictic  ;  containing  arcana  relating  to  the 
evolution  of  the  church  or  \inivorsal  type  of  spiritual-natural 
men  called  Smyrna;  first,  in  the  descent  of  the  respiration; 
and  second,  in  the  unfolding  of  the  mind  to  spiritual  know- 
ledges. This  church  will  suffer  exceedingly,  and  many  of  those 
of  whom  it  is  constituted  must  expect  martyrdom.  "  Fear 
none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer,'^  signifies,  ten 
persecutions  to  which  they  will  be  peculiarly  liable.  First  in 
place  is  cerebral  infestation.  In  the  organs  of  the  cerebrum 
are  stored  up,  when  the  man  becomes  spiritual-natural,  truths 
pertaining  to  the  various  forms  of  the  divine  sciences.  So  great 
is  the  hatred  of  the  demons  of  the  Spiritual  Hell  against  these 
truths,  that  when  they  scent  the  effluence  from  them,  which  is 
aromal  and  fragrant,  the  jDassion  of  murder  becomes  predomi- 
nant over  all  other  lusts  witliin  them.  They  go  from  place  to 
place  in  the  Spiritual  Hell,  after  this  discovery  has  been  made, 
saying  that  Christ  is  come  to  destroy  them,  but  that  they 
have  found  His  infantile  body  without  strength,  and  there- 
fore that  self-preservation  makes  it  incumbent  on  them  to  put 
it  to  death.  The  reason  why  these  lost  ones  say  that  they  have 
found  the  body  of  Christ,  is,  because  the  forms  of  divine 
sciences,  grouped  within  the  minds  of  spiritual-natural  men,  in 
their  aggregate  resemble  the  image  of  a  divine  infant. 

167.  They  work  against  the  brain  nby  correspondence,  as 
follows.  An  exact  image  of  the  cerebral  system  of  the  person 
they  would  infest  is  fashioned  by  a  diabolical  art,  vdth  marvel- 
lous skill.  It  is  then  enlarged  to  many  times  its  oi^iginal 
dimensions,  and  infilled  with  poisonous  breaths  throughout  the 
organs.  It  is  then  instilled  into  the  subtle  parts  of  nature, 
and  embodied  in  highly  potent  magnetic  spirits,  who  are 
wanderers,  being  distilled  through  the  leprous  bodies  of  evil 
genii ;  it  then  becomes  an  infernal  torture-machine,  operating 
thus  : — As  many  individuals  are  selected  from  among  reprobate 


SEC.  166—168.]  THE   AFOCALTFSE.  91 

and  abandoned  men  as  correspond  to  all  the  prominent  organs. 
Spider-like  it  is  woven  as  if  it  were  a  web,  from  brain  to  brain, 
encircling  the  whole  body  of  them  in  magnetic  shafts  and 
radiations,  but  in  a  condition  to  be  loosened  from  them  in- 
stantaneously. Plots  are  then  laid  to  induce  the  individual 
whom  they  would  infest,  through  friendly  courtesy,  or  from 
motives  of  worldly  necessity,  to  become  familiar  with  any  one 
of  the  series  through  whom  the  net  is  woven.  This  being 
accompHshed,  the  close-fitting  cerebral  investiture  is  removed 
from  the  brain  of  their  decoy  to  that  of  the  victim,  and  the 
whole  series  of  these  magnetic  cells  begin  to  close  fold  after 
fold.  Each  organ  of  the  brain  is  now  fixedly  compressed. 
Magnetic  darts  begin  to  interpenetrate  its  textures;  and  did  not 
the  Divine  Providence  prevent,  the  result  would  be  insanity. 

168.  For  a  second  mode  of  infestation  suicides  are  made  use 
of.  The  suicide,  in  this  peculiarity,  differs  from  all  other  spirits. 
He  is  closed  in  nature  by  a  triple  veil  for  a  period,  being  able 
to  destroy  his  own  natural  body,  but  not  able  to  dissipate  the 
animal  spirits.  Still  invested  with  this  invisible  corporeality, 
he  appears  to  spirits  as  with  them,  yet  as  not  with  them,  and 
dimly  visible  through  an  intervening  cloud.  He  is  an  anomaly ; 
hungry,  and  never  fed ;  thirsty,  with  no  one  to  give  him  drink ; 
experiencing  periodically  all  natural  desires,  in  a  most  ultimate 
sense,  and  clutching  vainly  at  the  phantoms  of  satisfaction. 
He  is  nearer  to  nature  than  are  the  wanderers,  and  more  able 
to  operate  on  corporeal  substance.  He  becomes  enslaved  by 
demons,  who  seeing  him  invested  with  this  nervous  shell,  per- 
ceive that  they  have  found  an  ag'ent  for  their  nefarious  ends. 
Every  sensation  of  the  death-blow,  whether  by  poison,  drown- 
ing, the  knife,  strangulation,  or  dashing  the  form  to  fragments 
by  precipitating  it  from  some  lofty  eminence,  periodically  re- 
asserts its  presence.  The  pains,  wounds,  contusions,  or  dis- 
locations reappear,  until  the  nerve-body  in  which  the  spii"it  is 
prisoned,  gradually  perishes.  This  nerve-body  may  be  infilled 
in  all  its  parts,  with  the  distillations  of  the  passions  of  the  in- 
fernals  of  the  Spiritual  Hell.  Metallic  substances,  ornaments, 
articles  of  apparel,  food,  and  drink,  and  even  the  floors  and 
walls  of  dwellings  to  Avhich  the  wandering  and  guilty  suicide 
has  access,  may  be  made  repositories  of  those  iuferual  fires. 


92  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.        [chap.  ii. 

clothed  in  manfiiotic  substance,  wliic]i  ho  bears  about  in  his 
nerve-body.  He  becomes  in  fact  a  walking  hell  to  enter  the 
apartments  of  dwellings,  distilling  everywhere  perdition. 

169.  The  demons  of  the  Spiritual  Hell  make  use  of  such  as  are 
of  this  character,  to  destroy  the  bodies  of  those  who  are  becom- 
ing spiritual-natural.  Not  alone  are  the  liquid  essences  of  the 
hells  infiltrated  through  them,  but  the  living  passions  of  the  lost 
become  venomous  creatures  within  the  nerve-body,  serving  as 
the  ready  means  of  working  ruin.  The  man  who  is  becoming 
spiritual-natural,  being  marked  for  the  especial  hostility  of  the 
Spiritual  Hell,  has  assigned  to  him,  if  possible,  a  suicide  Avho 
dogs  his  steps,  following  him  on  journeys  from  place  to  place 
and  even  from  continent  to  continent ;  entering,  if  it  can  be 
effected,  into  the  house  or  the  apartments  which  he  is  to 
occupy,  and  depositing  magnetic  poison  where  it  most  readily 
can  reach  the  person.  The  fixed  idea  of  the  suicide  is  to  bring 
about  some  horrible  catastrophe  like  that  by  which  he  de- 
stroyed his  own  natural  form.  His  object  is  to  him  as  food 
and  drink  and  for  the  time  takes  place  of  all  others.  He  is 
made  to  believe,  in  his  madness,  that  provided  he  can  destroy 
the  body  of  a  spiritual-natural  man,  his  anomalous  state  will 
end ;  and  that  bursting  its  magnetic  shell,  the  spirit  may  enter 
into  a  glorious  empire  of  exquisite  sensational  delights. 

170.  The  spiritual-natural  man  is  infested  and  tormented, 
in  the  third  place,  as  internal  respiration  begins,  by  fierce 
wanderers  of  a  genius  akin  to  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Spiritual  Hell.  The  total  number  of  wanderers  on  the  continent 
of  Europe  exceeds  by  a  large  proportion,  the  terrestrial  in- 
habitants. There  are  cities  where  the  number  of  the  li\Tng  is 
exceeded  by  the  number  of  the  dead  who  still  retain  the  mag- 
netic substance  of  their  former  bodies.  Eobespicrre,  Couthon, 
St.  Just,  and  a  horde  of  Jacobins  of  the  vilest  sort  who 
perished  at  the  close  of  the  Reign  of  Terror,  may  be  seen 
with  the  spiritual  eye,  surrounding  the  steps  of  the  imperial 
throne,  and  communicating  under  the  assumed  names  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  I.  and  others,  at  seances  for  spiritual  mani- 
festations at  the  Tuilcries.  Heaven  has  receded  from  that 
doomed  spot  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  wandering  spirits  of 
tyrants  and  voluptuaries  from  the  whole  world  are  rushing  to 
it  as  to  a  centre. 


SEC.  169—174.]         THE   APOCALTFSE.  93 

171.  As  tlie  spiritual-natural  man  enters  through,  internal 
respii-ation  into  power^  he  is  seen  as  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night, 
and  as  a  piUar  of  cloud  by  day^,  by  the  haunters  of  the  subtle 
realms  of  nature ;  and  they  are  di-awn  to  him  as  tmlight  insects 
to  a  lighted  candle-flame.  They  cannot  understand  the  pheno- 
menon, and  imagine  in  their  madness,  that  the  whole  of  the 
magnetic  sphere  in  which  they  move,  will  be  kindled  by  such 
presences  into  conflagration.  How  to  extinguish  the  flame 
becomes  the  grand  topic  of  discourse,  and  manifold  are  their 
experiments.  One,  and  the  fourth  of  the  series  to  b,e  enu- 
merated, consists  of  a  cold  plague  introduced  into  the  natural 
lungs,  in  the  hope  of  destroying  the  external  breathing  organs 
by  tuberculous  consumption. 

172.  The  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  modes  consist,  with  nume- 
rous particulars,  in  the  attempt  of  the  demons  in  the  upper, 
intermediate,  and  lower  Hells,  to  stoiTu  the  defences  by  which 
internal  respiration  is  gTiarded  in  the  new  recipient,  and  to 
expel  the  di^ane  breath;  substituting  for  it  infernal  vapours. 
The  fierceness  and  persistence  of  the  demons  who  seek  this 
end,  cannot  be  described,  however  well  it  may  be  inferred. 
These  attacks  are  made  respectively  against  the  body,  mind 
and  spirit,  and  the  breathing  organs.  Successions  of  infernals 
rising  from  week  to  week  and  fi-om  year  to  year, — sometimes 
ten  thousand  of  them,  in  embattled  array, — are  at  the  same  time 
engaged  in  combat  against  one  individual.  Then  there  are 
spiritual  battles  like  those  described  in  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  791,  793. 
Such  wonders  attend  the  return  of  internal  resj)iration  to  the 
race. 

173.  At  this  point  a  subject  must  be  presented  which,  how- 
ever veiled,  must  pain  the  delicate  ear.  The  man  who  becomes 
spiritual-natural  is  conscious  at  first  of  the  decHne  of  nujDtial 
potency.  This  is  occasioned  by  the  varied  wastings  referred 
to  in  preceding  paragraphs.  In  this  wasted  condition  harlots 
approach  him  during  sleep,  and  by  correspondence  endeavour 
to  induce  lasciviousness.  They  taint  the  air  with  their  loath- 
some breath,  and  the  cold  burnings  of  Pandemonium  afflict 
the  frame. 

174.  Persons  who  are  becoming  spiritual-natural  are  also 
exposed  to  afflictions  from  two  causes  which  follow ;  both  of 


9i  ARCANA    OF   CUBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

wliicli,  iov  tlic  sake  of  tlie  salvution  of  tlie  souls  and  bodies  of 
maukiud,  I  am  forced  to  name.  \Vlien  a  young  virgin  begins 
most  earnestly  to  crave  full  regeneration  from  the  Lord,  if  of 
tlie  genius  called  spiritual-natural,  tlio  demons  of  the  Spiritual 
Hell  project  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  her,  the  phantom 
imago  of  a  youth  before  the  inner  eye ;  endeavouring  at  the 
same  time  to  persuade  her  that  this  is  an  angel  who  is  her 
nuptial  counterpart.  Media  for  spiritual  communications  are 
then  sought  out,  and  demons  endeavour  to  enforce  the  impres- 
sion by  declarations  as  from  some  angelic  youth,  to  this  effect. 
Finally  a  sorcerer  invested  -with  the  magnetic  form,  so  that  his 
breath  can  be  felt,  and  even  a  sensational  demonstration  made 
to  the  person,  representing  himself  to  be  this  youthful  angel 
of  light,  endeavours  to  cohabit  and  to  establish  sexual  rela- 
tions Avith  the  ultimate  natural  person.  The  young  man  is 
liable  to  the  same  loathsome  proximity.  These  attempts  are 
made  however,  on  others  open  to  the  spirit  world,  through 
mesmerism,  through  the  practice  of  hypnotism  or  electro-biology, 
but  chiefly  from  the  habit  of  attending  the  spiritual  seance. 
When  the  individual  is  becoming  spiritual-natural,  sorceresses 
from  the  Spiritual  Hell  often  attempt  their  odious  and  impious 
familiarities,  always  to  be  overcome  and  thrust  aside,  through 
openness  to  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

175.  A  tenth  affliction  to  which  the  spiritual-natural  are 
exposed  consists  in  the  assaults  upon  the  nerve-body;  assum- 
ing chiefly  in  the  external  the  form  of  neuralgic  pains.  These 
proceed  from  the  intellectual  demons  of  the  Spiritual  Hell,  and 
are  parts  of  a  general  scheme  to  convulse  the  body  with 
anguish,  induce  the  conviction  in  the  mind  that  God  has  for- 
saken it,  and  break  the  faith-state  through  which  the  respira- 
tion becomes  perfect.  "  Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou 
shalt  sufi'er.^'  This  passage  also  signifies,  the  most  intense 
afflictions  which  the  man  of  the  spiritual-natural  type  must 
undergo,  from  the  attempts  of  evil  spirits  to  suppress  respira- 
tion during  thought- states ;  of  which  more  in  another  place. 

176.  "  Behold,  the  devil  shall  cast  some  of  you  into  prison.'^ 
Under  this  head  the  subject  of  spiritual  imprisonments,  with 
especial  reference  to  those  to  which  the  spiritual-natural  man 
is  liable^  must  receive  consideration.     The  evil  monarch  of  the 


SEC.   175—178.]         THE    APOGALTPSE.  05 

lost  orb^  now  cast  witli  liis  followers  into  tlie  lake  of  fire,  lias 
power  to  resist  tke  inauguration  of  the  new  harmony  wliich 
descends  from  our  Lord,  as  it  begins  to  be  made  apparent  in 
tlie  changed  constitutions  of  such  as  receive  tlie  gift  of  opened 
respiration  in  its  fii-st  initial  degree.  "  Behold,  the  devil  shall 
cast  some  of  you  into  prison/''  signifies,  that  some  in  whom  in- 
ternal respiration  commences,  and  who  are  of  the  spiritual- 
natm'al  type,  being  hardly  pressed  and  grievously  beset,  will 
remain  with  the  respirations  in  a  state  almost  imperceptible  to 
themselves  until  the  Lord  sends  dehverance.    The  causes  follow. 

177.  First^  conjunction  with  married  partners  who  are  in- 
mostly  repugnant  to  the  entire  self-abneg*ation  of  the  spirit 
before  the  Lord,  has  power,  but  for  a  time,  to  secrete  within  the 
aerated  body  of  the  lung's,  a  nerve  sphere  emanating  from  the 
wife,  or  husband,  and  controlled  by  the  cerebral,  aortal  and 
respiratory  action.  This,  distributed  throughout  the  person 
and  blending  with  the  circulations,  serves  as  a  field  for  the 
deploy  of  hving  organic  entities  from  the  selfhood  of  the  one 
who  opposes,  rendering  the  process  of  the  estabhshment  of 
the  new  harmony  in  the  frame  slow,  dangerous,  and  exceedingly 
laborious.  When  either  partner  thus  resists,  care  must  be  taken 
to  maintain  the  highest  and  the  amplest  charity  for  him  or  her ; 
nor  should  this  serve  under  any  circumstance,  as  a  cause  for 
nuptial  separation.     More  on  this  subject  hereafter. 

178.  The  respiration  passes  first  into  the  soul,  or  inmost 
degree  of  the  natural  lungs ;  second,  into  their  spirit ;  and  last, 
into  their  body,  in  three  degress.  After  respiration  has  begun 
in  the  soul  of  the  lungs,  it  may  be  arrested  there  for  a  time 
by  means  of  magnetic  relations  resulting  from  the  friendship 
in  the  selfhood  of  persons  of  either  sex,  whose  bodies  may 
serve  as  the  medium  for  the  transmission  of  an  opposing  in- 
fluence. A  friend  may  be  highly  estimable,  and  still  serve  to 
prevent  the  increase  of  respiration.  The  touch  of  the  hand, 
the  glance  of  the  eye,  the  tones  of  the  voice,  the  perusal  of 
letters  surcharged  with  their  sphere,  in  fine  the  radiation  of 
their  effluence  through  miles  of  space,  as  by  the  electric  flash, 
may  continually  serve  to  suspend  the  process  of  the  new  crea- 
tion. This  is  a  second  cause  of  imprisonment.  More  under 
the  head  of  disorderly  friendships.     The  second  c;uise  of  im- 


9G  ARCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITY.  [cuap.  ii. 

prisonmout  results  from  these  disorderly  friendships  bctwecu 
persons  of  the  same  sex,  and  a  third  from  the  same  relation 
between  those  of  opposite  sexes. 

179.  Entire  self-consecration  to  the  Lord,  accompanied  with 
the  determination  from  deepest  principles,  at  any  hazard  to  do 
His  holy  will,  when  certainly  made  known,  requires  for  its  main- 
tenance as  a  state,  the  morning,  noon,  and  evening  prayer  in 
secret,  and  a  habitual  reference  to  the  Sacred  Word.  If  in 
consequence  of  a  recession  of  spiritual  combats  or  infestations, 
an  interval  of  comparative  peace  ensues,  and  the  individual  so 
blest  allows  himself  to  indulge  in  the  reviving  emotions  of  the 
partially  subdued  selfhood,  a  pause  in  the  extension  of  the 
respirations  takes  place,  and  spells  that  have  been  broken  re- 
assert their  power,  though  sundered  perhaps  for  years.  This 
serves  as  a  fourth  cause. 

180.  Imprisonment  results,  in  a  fifth  instance,  from  the  ex- 
posure of  the  mind  to  unholy  and  insidious  religious  ceremonies. 
The  individual  who  is  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  state  called 
spiritual-natural,  feels  led  by  his  reviving  desires  for  the  ease 
and  comfort  of  a  religious  home,  to  pass  from  place  to  place 
where  public  worship  is  celebrated,  seeking  rest  and  finding 
none.  He  at  length  is  drawn  into  a  temple  artfully  constructed 
through  unconscious  ages  for  a  Satanic  decoy.  Perhaps  millions 
of  demons  have  conspired  from  the  hells,  to  galvanise  the 
corpse  of  a  deceased  religious  party,  through  its  revived  body 
to  arrest  the  liberation  of  mankind.  Veiled  as  angels  of  light, 
and  making  use  of  the  bodies  of  wandering  spirits  or  of  human 
media,  whether  conscious  or  unconscious,  they  distil  a  seductive 
opiate  upon  the  air;  and  in  fine,  by  meretricious  arts,  they 
succeed  in  breaking  through  the  defences  cast  up  around  the 
organism.  From  this  time,  until  the  unhappy  imprisonment  is 
ended,  the  outer  and  the  inner  mind  are  at  variance,  and  the 
new  man  spell-bound  within  a  natural  prison-house. 

181.  A  special  form  of  this  bondage  springs  from  ritualistic 
observances.  At  the  present  time,  a  seductive,  enslaving 
Paganism  is  elaborating  a  magnetic  body  in  the  world ;  and, 
availing  itself  of  Romish  traditions,  is  establishing  an  alluring 
and  baneful  superstition.  Crosses,  sacerdotal  garments,  the 
decorations  of   the  altar,   the   very    carvings   and  ornaments 


SEC.  179—182.]         THE   AFOCALYFSE.  97 

of  tlie  oratory  and  tlie  cliapel_,  are  all  sui'cliarged  with  a  triple 
poison.  A  veil  of  illusion  is  spun  over  tlie  true  reason  of  the 
worshipper.  The  partition  between  the  spiritual  and  natural 
degrees  of  the  lungs  becomes  indurated.  The  elements  of  the 
new  creation  which  have  begun  to  vitahze  the  body  are  diiven 
back  from  the  air  cells  and  openings  of  the  frame.  There  is,  but 
in  another  sense  from  that  which  the  Jesuitical  administrator 
declares,  a  transubstantiation  of  the  eucharistic  elements ;  for 
an  infernal  substance  of  evil  is  instilled  into  the  wafer,  and 
an  infernal  element  of  falsity  distributed  within  the  wine.  By 
every  act  of  his  ceremonial  the  priest  magnetises  the  supersti- 
tious and  deluded  novices.  Behind  him,  but  invisible,  are  the 
powers  of  those  dread  hells  that  wrought  the  murders  of  Torque- 
mada  and  the  slaveries  and  corruptions  of  Loyola.  But  still 
behind^these,  and  operant  through  them,  are  those  foul,  false 
gods  and  goddesses  whose  magic  was  wrought  through  all 
debasing  and  tkrice  accursed  rites,  when  men  passed  their  chil- 
dren through  fire  to  Moloch,  or  offered  human  hetacombs  upon 
the  altars  of  Baal.  Those  who  submit  to  the  incantations  of 
the  ritualistic  reaction,  if  spmtual-natural,  are  spinning  fetters 
of  steel  for  the  reason,  and  building  labyrinths  that  open  into 
chambers  of  torture  and  of  horror  for  the  captive  heart.  It  may 
be  objected  that  devout  and  virtuous  men  are  engaged  in  this 
movement;  that  culture  and  taste,  an  acute  scholarship  and  a 
pure  morahty,  as  well  as  patriotic  and  philanthropic  sentiments 
and  ascetical  practices,  characterize  its  leaders.  This  is  all  veiy 
true ;  nevertheless,  in  the  interests  of  a  former  ritualistic  re- 
action, the  learned  and  pious  scholars,  priests,  and  ceremonial 
saints  of  Judeea  murdered  their  Christ.  History  repeats  itself, 
and  these  are  of  that  generation  who  crucified  the  Spirit,  while 
they  were  careful  to  make  broad  the  phylacteries  and  leave  no 
oblation  wanting  at  the  daily  sacrifices. 

182.  A  sixth  form  of  bondage  results  from  the  magical  arts 
of  females,  who  are  far  more  subtle  and  dangerous,  as  speaking 
subjects  for  the  demons  of  the  Spiritual  Hell,  than  males  are. 
The  feminine  sphere  combines  positiveness  with  insinuating 
and  pertinacious  subtilty.  As  a  general  rule,  the  woman,  in 
the  hands  of  the  demon,  is  ten  times  more  dangerous  than 
the  man.     When  ambitition  has  entered  into  the  heart  of  one 

G 


98  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

of  tlio  fcmalo  sex,  aud  tlic  tliouglit  to  become  a  foundress  of  an 
ecclesiastical  institution,  she  generally  succeeds  in  convincing 
herself  that  the  sources  of  her  impressions  are  supernal,  or  even 
of  the  Infinite.  But  having  the  sphere  of  her  sex,  which  is  one 
of  pliant  absorptiveness,  she  teems  with  conceptions  which 
cannot  become  fully  embodied  fantasies,  without  the  assistance 
of  the  masculine  element.  Hence  she  seeks  disciples  who 
shall  serve  as  reservoirs  of  spiritual  magnetic  vitaHty ;  drawing 
through  them  an  important  element  of  life,  and  through  the 
male  influx,  in  a  subversive  order,  becoming  pregnant  with 
ideas.  When  such  sirens  find  access  to  those  who  are  be- 
coming spiritual-natural,  and  can  conjoin  themselves  so  as  to 
produce  fiiith  in  their  pretensions,  the  slavery  which  ensues  is 
rigid,  and  may  be  long  protracted.  The  most  honest  and  con- 
scientious, who  are  physically  open  to  an  extreme  influx  from 
foreign  bodies,  will  be  very  liable  to  this  form  of  bondage. 

183.  Others  who  are  becoming  spiritual -natural,  are  in  pecu- 
liar danger  of  falling  into  bondage  to  the  general  sphere  of  the 
selfhood,  not  of  individuals,  but  of  beloved  and  attached  fami- 
lies. The  greater  body  attracts  the  less,  not  alone  in  physics 
but  in  the  human  world.  A  certain  solidarity  is  developed, 
through  the  ordinary  familistic  ties.  The  individual  attracted 
into  the  magnetic  sphere  of  a  potent  family  circle,  begins  to 
experience  a  sensation  of  unity  with  the  qualities  of  its  life.  To 
break  that  charmed  influence  often  requires  an  efibrt  as  if  to 
burst  the  bands  of  death,  and  break  the  yoke  of  a  disease 
abeady  feeding  on  the  vitals.  Relationships  of  this  kind,  when 
they  exist  in  the  selfhood,  are  singularly  prejudicial  to  those 
led  in  ^the  Divine  Providence,  in  the  beginnings  of  the  new 
respiration,  to  the  glorious  harmonies  of  a  divine  state.  It  is 
to  be  feared  that  many,  irresolute  where  most  decision  is  re- 
quired, will  sufier  themselves  to  perish  in  the  subversive  move- 
ment, from  this  cause  alone.  Many  involved  unconsciously  in 
it  must  expect  to  make  no  progress,  but  to  remain  until  such 
slaveries  are  broken.     This  is  a  seventh  imprisonment. 

184.  An  eighth  means  and  form  of  bondage,  to  those  who 
are  becoming  spiritual-natural  men,  results  from  exposure  to 
the  operations  of  a  class  of  bigoted  and  fanatical  promoters  of 
revivals  of  religion.     The  revivalist,  in  the  selfhood,  is  a  pro- 


■SEC.  183—186.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  99 


moter  not  of  cliarity  but  of  strife.  He  intensifies  tlie  sectarian 
bigotry,  and  inflates  the  pliarisaic  pride  of  tlie  ecclesiastical 
body  wlioni  lie  represents.  In  liis  unbounded  arrogance,  he 
sets  up  a  poor  charlatanry  as  superior  to  the  supremest  moral 
inspirations.  He  brings  the  sacred  cause  of  religion  into  con- 
tempt before  the  world,  by  palming  off  the  tricks  of  mesmerism 
as  the  genuine  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

185.  When  persons  in  whom  the  spiritual-natural  state, 
through  fitness  of  endowment,  is  beginning  to  manifest  its 
incipient  conditions,  begin  to  experience  the  visitings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  within  the  breast,  many  will  be  in  extreme  igno- 
rance. They  know  but  vaguely,  if  at  all,  that  there  is  a  World 
of  Spii'its.  The  dead  natural  organs  of  the  mind  begin  to  re- 
ceive, the  intellect  is  open  to  persuasions,  the  body  facile  to 
magnetic  spheres.  The  church  is  deemed,  of  all  places,  that 
most  fitted  to  nurse  the  noblest  emotions  ;  but  the  revivahst  in 
the  selfhood,  possessed  of  an  immense  mesmeric  power,  suc- 

•  ceeds  too  often  in  checking  the  still,  sweet  growth  of  the  divine 
principles  within  the  breast,  and  in  arresting  the  descent  of  the 
new  creation.  He  is  accompanied,  invisibly,  by  familiar  spirits, 
who  have  risen  from  Hell  to  facilitate  this  pulpit  mountebank 
in  playing  ofi"  fantastic  tricks  against  high  Heaven ;  knowing 
that  the  frenzy  which  to-day  makes  the  multitude  disposed  to 
hysterical  prostrations  before  the  altar,  will  be  followed  by  a 
reactionary  chill,  in  which  profanities  will  abound  and  material- 
ism win  its  easy  victories.  A  swarm  of  wandering  spirits  feed 
upon  the  vital  element  of  the  unfortunate,  who  is  completely 
subject  to  the  combined  control  of  the  actor  in  the  pulpit  and 
his  invisible  associates.  Many  who  might  otherwise  rapidly 
advance  through  the  initiatory  stages  and  become  spiritual- 
natural,  are  depleted  of  the  nerve  fluid,  through  one  course  of 
such  excesses.  In  some  instances  transiently,  but  ia  others  for 
long  periods,  they  are  subjugated,  as  to  their  bodies,  by  the 
sectarian  clan.     Years  may  ensue  before  their  deliverance. 

186.  A  caution  needs  here  to  be  inserted,  lest  the  preceding 
paragraph  should  be  misunderstood.  The  revivalist  in  the 
selfhood,  seeks  to  imitate,  with  a  profane  sorcery,  a  genuine 
divine  work.  His  success  is  owing  to  the  fact,  that,  with  closed 
respiration,  the  church  is  unable  to  discriminate  between  those 

G  2 


100  ABCANA    OF   CHBISTIANITY.         [chap.  ii. 

preachings  which  are  followed  by  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  those  which  tend  to  the  development  of  cataleptic  and 
mesmeric,  as  well  as  disorderly  mediatorial  phenomena. 

187.  A  ninth  cause  of  imprisonment  of  the  spiritual -natural 
man,  in  his  infantile  states,  is  from  monkery  in  its  peculiar 
tenets,  both  as  developed  in  the  Romanist  and  some  of  the 
Protestant  persuasions.  There  is  one  text  of  Scripture,  whose 
misinterpretation  has  been  productive  of  incalculable  misery 
and  irreligion.  Our  Saviour  declares  that  in  Heaven  they  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels.  This, 
in  its  letter,  is  no  declaration  that  the  conjugial  union  which 
springs  from  the  Divine  ordinance  that  two  persons,  the  one 
male  the  other  female,  created  as  a  dual,  and  so  complete 
humanity,  may  not  unite  in  accordance  with  the  requirements 
of  the  eternal  divine  law,  and  so  blissfully  exist  as  two  in  one  to 
all  eternity.  Our  Saviour's  declaration  is  simply  that  there  are 
no  formal  unions  from  without,  dependent  for  their  validity 
upon  the  sanction  of  the  sacerdotal  officer,  or  the  custom  of  the 
land.  It  is  a  protest  from  the  divine  stand-point,  against  the 
idea,  that  the  earthly  shadow  of  the  marital  institution,  which 
merely  has  an  external  sanction,  is  suffered  to  intrude  itself  into 
the  province  of  the  heavenly  and  the  eternal  harmonies.  It  is 
to  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  our  Saviour  recognised  the 
arbitrary  time  and  sense  marriage,  as  binding ;  but  only  for  the 
natural  world.  An  interpretation  placed  upon  this  text,  ahke 
in  violation  of  the  natural  import  of  language,  of  the  internal 
senses  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  testimony  of  those  to  whom  the 
Lord  permits  perception  of  divine  things,  ignores  entirely  the 
tendency  to  internal  conjunction  between  the  inmost  psychical 
principle  of  the  woman  and  of  the  man.  It  is  impossible  to 
think  in  conjunction  with  angels,  or  to  breathe  in  conjunc- 
tion with  them,  without  a  recognition  of  the  divine  conjugial 
order  of  the  skies.  But  marriage,  as  involving  a  possibility 
of  internal  and  divine  conjunction,  by  which  the  twain  shall  be 
become  really  one  flesh,  were  it  mooted  as  a  doctrinal  point 
throughout  the  nominal  Christian  world,  would,  with  here  and 
there  an  exception,  be  considered  as  blasphemous. 

188.  The  latent  feeling  throughout  those  who  represent  the 
religious  world  is  that,  of  the  two,  celibacy  is  far  holier  than 


SEC.  187— J  90.  THE   APOOALYPSE.  101 

the  marriage  state.  The  ground  for  monkery  is  thus  almost 
co-extensive  with  Christendom.  When  internal  respiration, 
in  its  most  incipient  state,  is  at  hand,  that  type  of  mind  which 
is  spiritual-natural,  in  the  recession  of  the  aboriginal  life  of 
the  selfhood,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  deaths  of  the  minute 
organic  forms,  spoken  of  heretofore,  experiences  a  profound 
sensation  of  nuptial  cold.  Fostered  by  the  universal  heresy 
against  the  divine  grounds  and  the  ineffable  purities  of  mar- 
riage, the  misinstructed  intellect  cherishes  the  idea,  that  the 
chill  which  invades  the  being  is  identical  with  the  holiness  of 
the  superior  life.  The  fructifications  of  the  divine  ideas  in 
the  intellect  cease  from  the  moment  this  fantasy  prevails.  Not 
one  Divine  truth,  in  its  symmetry,  perspicuity,  and  demon- 
stration, has  ever  been  shed  abroad  upon  the  world  by  an 
original  unfolding,  through  the  intellect  of  any  who  have  suc- 
cumbed to  and  remained  enslaved  by  the  monkish  conception 
of  the  nature  of  the  divine  life  j  not  one. 

189.  It  is  this  destructive  inversion  of  doctrine,  which,  rooted 
and  grounded  within  the  body  of  the  creeds,  prevents  the  de- 
scent of  the  Divine  Spirit  into  the  lungs  of  Christendom.  When 
those  who  are  becoming  spiritual-natm-al  begin  to  entertain 
the  idea  alluded  to,  the  monastic  province  of  Tophet,  filled 
with  idolaters  and  idolatresses  of  self,  who  cruelly  persecuted 
the  conjugial  principle  in  man,  and  sought  to  extirpate  it,  in- 
vades the  body  with  its  subtle  breath.  To  the  extent  to  which 
this  fantasy  has  power  in  the  mind,  the  organs  of  the  thinking 
principle  are  controlled  by  vibrations  from  the  chill  monastic 
hell.     Many  are  imprisoned  thereby. 

190.  The  tenth  cause,  which  tends  to  produce  imprisonment 
and  to  lock  up  in  slavery  the  germinal  powers  of  the  new  man, 
who  is  becoming  spiritual -natural,  is  the  suppression  of  the 
principle  of  trust  in  the  Lord,  as  applied  to  common  things. 
Owing  to  the  intense  constructive  action  of  the  reflective  facul- 
ties, more  than  all  others  those  of  spiritual-natural  genius  fore- 
cast the  future,  and  lay  out,  in  deep  and  arduous  meditation, 
the  plan  of  life.  Here  is  the  barrier  which  few  pass  who  are 
of  this  quality  of  mind  ;  for,  seemingly  of  a  texture  as  of  the 
web  of  the  field  spider,  it  proves  nevertheless  adamantine. 
That  God  desires  that    man  should    enter  into  a  condition. 


102  ARCANA    OF   OHEISTIANITT.    .    [cnAP.  ir. 

in  wliicli  to  liavc  no  life  but  the  Divine  love,  and  no  guidance 
but  the  Divine  direction,  seems  incredible  to  nearly  all.  Few 
deem  it  possible  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  direct,  by  the 
instant  guidance  of  His  Spirit,  the  banker  at  his  desk,  the 
artist  in  his  studio,  the  merchant  in  his  commerce,  the  woman 
in  her  housewifery,  and  the  mariner  upon  the  sea. 

191.  Christ  is  considered  in  the  church  the  ruler  of  Heaven, 
but  self-calculation  the  supreme  governor  of  Earth.  "Who 
succeeds  ?  "  is  the  question ;  and  the  answer, "  Whoever,  ir- 
respective of  moral  quality,  plays  best  the  game  of  fortune." 
The  prayer,  "  Give  us  day  by  day  our  daily  bread,"  is  on  almost 
all  lips,  but,  for  the  most  part,  is  a  meaningless  formula.  The 
greater  petition,  "  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  as  in 
heaven  so  on  earth,"  is  reduced  to  an  unmeaning  platitude. 
That  creation  is  governed  by  general  laws,  and  that  those  who 
understand  and  avail  themselves  of  those  laws  are  successful ; 
while  those  who  cannot  grasp  their  scope,  or  apply  their  powers, 
must  be  ground  to  powder,  is  now  the  faith  of  the  enlightened, 
with  but  few  exceptions.  TTiat  there  are  laws  of  faith  as  well 
as  laws  of  physics,  and  that  the  prayer  which  moves  the  hand  of 
God,  may  touch  the  springs  which  control  the  operation  of  the 
law,  few  believe,  but  those  who,  in  the  divine  life,  have  tested 
the  fact ;  yet  they,  by  experience,  do  know  it  to  a  certainty. 

192.  Without  the  prayer  that  springs  from  the  profoundest 
depths  of  the  heart,  that  utterly  renounces  self,  there  can  be 
no  establishment  of  the  new  respiration.  It  may  flutter  upon 
the  faculties,  as  the  dove  before  it  lights ;  but  unless  the  yearn- 
ing, concentered  affections  of  the  spirit  struggle  upward  to  the 
Lord,  the  beauteous  messenger  spreads  its  returning  pinions  to 
the  Divine  bosom.  According  to  the  depth  and  the  divinity 
of  the  prayer,  which  is  the  upgoing  of  the  heart  to  God,  will 
be  the  quality  and  the  measure  of  the  respirations  that  retm'n. 
Utter  forgetfulness  of  self  must  characterize  the  prayers  that 
organically  precede  Chinst's  advent,  in  the  fulness  of  the 
divine  breath,  in  the  body  of  the  breathing  frame.  From  this 
time  prayer  is  the  kiss  from  the  lips  of  the  yielding  bride,  that 
establishes  the  eternal  love-union  with  the  great  Bridegroom, 
the  Lord.  We  must  in  spirit,  and  literally,  thus  open  our  lips 
for  the  breath  of  His  mouth. 


SEC.  191— 194.]         TRU   APOOALTPSE.  IO3 


193.  But  of  wliat  quality  is  that  wife  who,  while  seekino'  the 
marriage  relation  in  appearances,  resolves  that  she  will  think 
and  live  in  a  house  by  herself,  and  journey  to  and  fro,  and 
transact  a  varied  round  of  employments,  and  seek  advice  and 
guidance  wherever  she  will,  indifferent  to  the  truth  that  the 
bridegroom  is  the  head  ?  Thus  the  soul  which  seeks  to  be 
in  the  reception  of  the  Divine  gifts,  a  member  of  the  church 
which  is  called  "  The  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,"  can  enter  into 
no  ultimate  conjunction  with  Him,  while,  like  the  foolish  woman 
of  the  parable,  she  assumes  the  direction  of  her  own  house 
the  origination  of  her  own  pursuits,  the  guidance  of  her  own 
commerce  and  association  with  mankind.  Conjunction  can 
only  be  attained  by  absolute  sm-rendery  to  the  Divine  Will  • 
only  maintained  by  daily,  hourly  renewals  of  that  consecration, 
by  making  the  whole  plan  and  action  of  the  being  subject  to 
the  Lord's  divine  spirit.  Therefore  the  man  in  whom  the 
growths  of  the  new  creation  have  begun,  finds,  at  this  point, 
deliverance  or  long  continued  vassalage.  No  compromises  are 
possible.  Those  who  vacillate  fall  into  many  temptations. 
The  Lord  tries  those  who  yield  themselves  to  His  direction, 
often  painfully;  and  no  trial  or  affliction  seemeth  for  the  present 
to  be  joyous  but  rather  grievous,  but  afterward,  if  accepted 
and  endured  in  the  conjunction  of  faith  and  charity,  and  so 
with  unswerving  devotion  to  the  issues  of  the  new  life,  it  works 
the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  to  them  that  are  exercised 
thereby. 

194.  Of  the  nature  of  the  imprisonments  to  which  those  are 
subjected,  who  at  this  turning  point  are  weak  and  wavering, 
this  needs  to  be  written.  The  ark  is  before  them ;  the  foun- 
dations of  the  earth  are  being  removed  from  beneath  their  feet ; 
around  them  the  deluges  are  rising ;  the  floods  are  falling  from 
on  high.  The  worldly  prosperity  which  they  think  to  secure  by 
falling  back  and  sheltering  themselves  within  a  shrewd,  saga- 
cious calculation,  a  choice  of  then-  own  pursuits,  an  alliance 
with  artful,  successful,  worldly  men,  is,  even  if  realized,  perdi- 
tion. In  the  divine  life,  the  only  safety  consists  in  the  onward 
march.  The  foe,  resisting  the  advance,  derives  his  power  from 
our  own  faithlessness,  our  half-resolute  or  faltering  condition.  A 
step  forward,  and  the  obstruction  proves  a  shadow  which  melts 


lOi  ARCANA    OF   ORRISTIANITY.     '   [chap.  ii. 


beneath  the  feet ;  as  a  step  backward,  and  wliat  would  other- 
wise have  been  the  shadow,,  is  the  armed  man,  flushed  with  the 
omens  of  victory,  who  tramples  us  under  foot.  If  Christ  is  for 
us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?  The  new  movement  which  descends 
from  om'  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  which  seeks  to  invert  the 
present  organic  conditions  of  the  man,  to  expel  disease, 
to  rebuild  the  constitution,  to  enthrone  the  intellect  above  the 
illusions  of  all  creeds  and  all  times,  to  knit  the  moral  principle, 
and  through  it  the  whole  man,  to  the  established  harmony  of 
Heaven,  demands,  by  virtue  both  of  its  cause  and  of  its  end, 
nothing  less  than  the  yielding  up  of  the  whole  being  to  the  in- 
flowing breath  of  the  Redeemer  •  nor  can  that  breath  inflow,  in 
this  manner,  till  we  have  once  for  all  made  up  our  minds  to 
be  His  practically,  and  daysmen  before  His  face. 

195.  "  That  ye  may  be  tried,"  signifies,  the  following  tests 
of  faith,  varying  in  particulars,  to  which  the  spiritual -natural 
man  is  subjected,  dmnng  the  processes  which  ultimate  in  the  new 
creation.  To  be  conjoined  in  all  things  to  the  spirit  and  person 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  solemn  privilege  of  the  man 
through  whom  the  new  creation  descends  and  is  realized  in  the 
earth.  The  glorified  fay-souls,  in  the  ultimate  temple  of  the 
divine  human  body  of  the  Lord,  may  be  agents  of  this  conjunc- 
tion. One  of  these  descends  and  is  stationed  as  a  guard  where 
spiritual  respii^ation  descends  into  the  soul  of  the  natural  lungs. 
Afterward  he  descends  with  the  advance  of  respiration,  to  the 
point  where  it  enters  their  body  or  ultimate  form.  After  this 
he  is  enabled  to  descend  through  the  breaths  into  the  body  of 
the  lungs,  and  to  go  forth  through  expirations  from  them  into 
the  natural  air.  The  fays  are  elsewhere  called  seed  (See  A.  of 
C.  2,  I.  5 — 10),  but  these  are  the  seed  of  Grod  in  man. 

196.  As  the  genius  of  the  glorified  fays  from  the  divine 
human  temple  of  our  Lord^s  body  is  varied,  so  the  one  which 
descends  to  each  man  partakes  of  his  own  genius.  They  are  also 
called  openers  of  the  soul.  They  descend  with  a  sharp  pang  as 
if  it  would  rend  it.  Every  advance  which  they  make  is  attended 
with  fierce  internal  conflict ;  for  it  is  the  Lord,  who  through 
them,  fights  the  inbred  evils  which  resist,  and  which  in  their 
goings  forth  are  successfully  met  and  subdued.  The  trials  to 
which  the  man  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural  is  subjected 


SEC.  195—197.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  105 

are  tliese.  First;  by  the  illumination  of  tlie  internal  memory  lie 
is  made  to  see  Ids  whole  past  life,  wldcli  passes  in  solemn  review 
before  bis  eyes.  The  deeds  that  were  done  in  darkness  are 
revealed  in  hght;  and  there  is  nothing,  however  covered  by 
the  shades  of  the  past,  but  is  now  made  known,  revived  from 
the  body  of  the  inner  memory ;  the  sins  of  the  understanding 
from  its  mind,  and  the  sins  of  the  will  from  its  inmost  essence. 
The  man  is  allowed  to  judge  himself;  but  he  is  himself  judged 
according  to  the  justice  of  the  sentence  which  he  passes  on  his 
own  deeds.  If  he  endeavours  to  make  them  seem  to  himself 
otherwise  than  they  are  and  were,  he  must  painfully  undergo 
new  wastings,  which,  in  their  accomiplishment,  round  the  cycle, 
and  he  is  again  permitted  in  this  ordeal  to  review  the  past. 
When  it  is  found  that  he  is  in  the  fullest  earnest  in  reading  him- 
self, and  that  he  is  judging  his  sins,  as  an  impartial  jurist  sits 
over  against  a  body  of  criminals,  when  he  introspects  thoroughly 
the  structure  of  his  heart  and  fearlessly  analyses  the  quality  of 
its  defilements,  then  he  is  said  to  have  jDassed  the  trial  of 
judgment ;  at  which  many  may  fail. 

197.  The  next  trial  is  that  of  constancy.  God,  who  governs 
circumstances  with  an  infinite  power,  so  involves  him  in  the 
stern  contests  of  a  fight  with  sin,  that  every  profession  which 
he  has  made  to  God  is  put  to  a  test.  After  duties  are  assigned 
him  in  the  guiding  light  of  the  spirit,  which  at  first,  perhaps, 
were  prosperously  entered  upon,  prop  after  prop  upon  which  he 
had  accustomed  himself  to  lean  in  the  external  world,  is  taken 
away.  Does  he  rely  too  much  on  wealth  ?  He  sees  it  taking 
wings.  Is  he  fed  and  stimulated  by  applause  ?  Reproaches 
overtake  him.  Is  he  constitutionally  of  a  sluggish  temperament  ? 
Ease  becomes  impossible.  Are  luxurious  and  enervating  habits 
cherished?  He  is  perhaps  rudely  dealt  with  by  calamitous 
events.  Are  there  extreme  refinements  of  civilization, — the 
opera,  the  music  saloon,  the  splendid  gallery  of  art,  and  the 
sweet  solaces  of  literature,  which  have  become  idols  ?  They 
must  take  their  place  with  things  denied.  Is  he  dependent  for 
exhilaration  upon  the  society  of  friends  ?  He  must  acquire  the 
habit  of  isolation.  Is  he  of  a  fondly  cHnging  nature,  parasiti- 
cally  absorbing  strength  through  the  countenance  and  support 
of  cherished  intimates  ?     The  roots  and  fibres  of  his  being  must 


lOG  AEGANA    OF   CUBI8TIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

bo  unclasped  from  tlicin,  liowever  tliey  may  bleed.  Aro 
religious  associations  so  needful  for  liim,  that  he  is  weekly 
maintained  in  an  artificial  piety  thereby,  as  exotic  plants  are 
forced  into  their  bloom  under  the  glass  of  conservatories  ?  The 
sheltering  barrier  to  the  inclemency  of  the  elements  is  broken 
down.  Opportunities  are  afforded  him  for  dispensing  with 
every  object  of  idolatry,  for  developing  a  hardy  nature,  which, 
like  the  sturdiest  oak,  shall  brave  the  world^s  winters  and 
wi'estle  with  its  gales. 

198.  If,  as  experience  after  experience  occurs,  he  shrinks 
effeminately  in  the  hour  of  trial,  new  wastings  occur,  and  he  is 
thrown  back  to  undergo  the  discipHne  of  a  new  cycle  of  events 
which  shall  end,  if  he  is  worthy,  in  bringing  him  anew  to  the 
same  ordeal.  God  tempers  souls  for  His  new  kingdom,  as 
the  ancient  oriental  armourers  tempered  the  blades  of  Damas- 
cus. One  such  heroic  spirit,  when  furnished  for  his  mission, 
can  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight.  It 
is  not  here  to  be  inferred  that  friends,  or  the  enjoyments  of 
society,  or  the  results  of  culture  and  civilization,  in  themselves, 
are  evil.  It  is  not  to  produce  anchorites  of  the  desert,  that  the 
Lord  imparts  His  breath.  We  shaU  see  hereafter  how  God 
gives  all  needful  blessings  to  His  children  in  their  time. 

199.  The  Lord,  in  the  new  age,  will  demonstrate  that  He  is 
God  alone.  Ho  will  give  or  lend  for  purposes  of  test  and  trial, 
precisely  as  He  takes  away.  It  is  true,  of  riches,  whether  in- 
tellectual or  natural,  of  friendship,  sympathy,  the  privileges  of 
rehgious  association,  and  of  enlightened  instruction  in  the 
Word.  It  is  His  object  to  bring  the  believer  into  a  state,  in 
which  he  shall  esteem  the  Lord's  service,  heaven ;  and  hold 
all  earthly  things  at  the  Lord's  disposal  and  in  His  employ. 
This  is  the  second  test. 

200.  The  Lord  disposes  events,  so  as  inevitably  to  bring 
persecutions  around  His  servants,  who  are  being  trained  for 
service  in  the  new  age.  He  touches  with  His  finger  the  painted 
bubble  of  exemption  from  detraction,  in  which  the  self-com- 
placent soul  is  floating  to  eternity ;  and  all  that  is  left  of  it  is 
acrid  gall.  The  hates  of  the  infernal  spirits  are  indescribable. 
They  rage  that  man  should  ever  attain  to  open  respu'ation, 
inasmuch  as  its  consequences  involve  their  subjection.     When 


SEC.  198—201.]         THE   APOGALTPSJE.  107 

therefore  tliey  begin  to  see  the  approach  of  the  divine  breath, 
they  raise  up  enemies  around  the  man.  The  most  frivolous 
pretexts  seem  to  excite  animosity,  when  the  black  bile  of  an 
infernal  hatred  seeks  to  vent  itself  from  its  subterranean  river 
in  the  will.  It  is  an  intense  gratification,  though  at  the  same 
time  a  madness,  for  the  unregenerate  man  to  hate,  and  injure 
such  as  are  being  trained  for  Heaven.  It  is  the  first  stimulat- 
ing draught  of  eternal  fire.  To  be  hated,  without  cause,  or 
with  sHght  cause,  to  bear  opprobrium  meekly,  and  cruel  wrongs 
with  a  sweet  tenderness  to  all  who  injure,  is  the  third  trial-test. 
Aggravated  injuries  must  succeed  those  that  are  shght  and 
superficial.  The  goal  of  this  test  is  triumphantly  won,  when 
the  man  who  is  becomiag  spiritual-natural,  bears  as  not  bear- 
ing, sees  as  not  seeing,  and  feels  as  not  feehng;  lookiug  uj)on 
every  foeman  as  a  brother,  and  remaining  undistm'bed  in  his 
harmony,  by  the  storms  that  beat  and  roll  below. 

201.  In  the  fourth  test,  temptations  come  through  Wander- 
itig  Spirits,  whose  magnetic  bodies  burn  with  an  impoisoned 
and  magnetic  fire.  Into  them  it  would  seem  as  if  mad-houses 
had  emptied  then*  insanities,  and  pest-houses  poured  their 
plagues.  As  they  begin  to  approach,  the  first  feeling  is  hor- 
ror, as  of  some  unnameable  loathing  drawing  nigh.  The 
atomic  spirits  shi-iak,  and,  with  singular  perturbations,  agitate 
the  heart.  The  spiiits  meet  the  eye  sometimes,  not  as  human 
beings,  but  as  beasts  and  serpents ;  for  their  evil  passions,  in 
their  periods  of  utmost  turbulence,  iuvolve  the  magnetic  forms 
which  they  wear  into  series  of  outlines,  typifying  the  abomina- 
tions that  swell  within.  Monsters  as  they  are,  it  is  needful 
that  the  spiritual-natural  man  should  pass  into  a  condition  to 
mind  them  as  little  as  the  traveller  does  the  fantastic  clouds 
above  ;  or  the  unseemly  objects  that  disfigure  the  roadside.  If 
one,  when  brought  to  the  ordeal,  is  not  disposed  to  endure, 
through  a  timorous  and  vacillating  spirit,  as  in  the'  former 
cases,  the  test  is  withdrawn;  untd,  through  a  series  of  new 
wastings,  the  more  deeply  tried  and  experienced  believer  is 
brought  again  to  face  the  intrusive  horrors.  They  become 
perfectly  harmless,  at  last,  and  one  need  no  more  observe  them, 
though  conscious  of  their  presence,  than  to  notice  the  loathsome 
human  objects  that  haunt  the  midnight  streets  of  cities. 


108  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap,  ii, 

202.  The  fifth  test  is  more  severe.  Human  beings  in  the 
flesh  serve  as  the  most  potent  agents  for  the  distribution  of 
fires  that  burn,  poisons  that  waste,  and  griefs  that  crucify  the 
soul.  There  is  a  period  dm-ing  the  noviciate  experiences  of 
the  spiritual-natm*al  man,  marked  by  extreme  susceptibility  to 
magnetic  emanations  through  human  bodies.  One  person  in 
seven  is  very  obviously  mediatorial  at  the  jDresent  time  in 
England,  though  individuals  to  themselves  are  unconscious 
that  they  are  so.  In  America,  the  proportion  of  mediatorial 
persons  is  much  greater.  As  one  becomes  spiritual-natural, 
not  alone  the  bodies  of  the  bad,  but  of  the  good,  are  often 
made  the  distributive  agents  of  the  magnetism  of  the  dark 
death  of  the  world  of  woe.  A  single  nerve  diseased,  an  organ 
chi'onically  affected,  may  be  the  conduit  of  internal  fire,  which 
only  those  who  are  in  this  internal  consciousness  can  distinguish 
or  detect.  The  inexperienced  are  apt  to  imagine  that  those 
through  whom  they  may  be  thus  affected  are  unregenerate,  or 
backslidden  from  the  good  of  life.  It  is  not  so.  The  bad  are 
bodily  so  closed  and  guarded,  sometimes,  that  the  magnetic 
fires  from  Hell  in  them  are  measurably  suppressed ;  the  good 
so  infested,  and  in  such  fierce  combat,  that  even  the  garments 
which  they  wear  may  be  for  the  time  surcharged  with  the  foul 
distillations  of  the  lost. 

203.  Often,  too,  a  man  in  evil  is  closed  in  an  impenetrable 
body  of  nerve  spirit,  and  through  the  acquired  habit  of  secret- 
ing emotions  -svithin  himself,  may  seem,  as  to  the  emanating 
influence,  harmless  and  inoffensive.  The  Spirit  of  God  may 
visit  him,  and  his  spirit  strive  after  divine  things.  As  he 
overcomes  his  secretive  habit,  and  learns  to  pour  forth  his  soul, 
the  pent  up  malarias  from  Tophet,  within  his  nervous  system, 
gush  out  in  torrents.  Or  again,  there  are  times  when  the  Lord 
sends  an  angel,  who  seals  up  an  impure  person,  so  that  the 
poison  of  his  state,  and  of  the  demons  who  inflow  into  him, 
shall  have  no  outlet  through  the  nerves ;  and  so  long  as  he  is 
thus  sealed,  he  would  seem  bodily  to  diffuse  no  more  of  an 
impure  virus  than  the  good  old  man  in  his  last  days.  But  when 
the  sealed  Tophet  is  uncovered,  his  real  imparities  come  forth. 
These  considerations  are  here  adduced,  for  the  purpose  of 
enforcing  on  those  who  sense  and  are  afflicted  by  the  magnetic 


SEC.  202—205.]         THE    APOCALYPSE.  109 

emanations  through,  human  bodies,  the  necessity,  first,  of  ex- 
treme caution;  second,  of  large  charity.  Extreme  caution  is 
demanded,  because,  as  in  cases  of  sealing,  the  inofi'ensiveness 
of  the  emanating  sphere  is  no  proof  of  the  advanced  regenera- 
tion of  the  heart.  A  large  charity  is  imperative,  since,  other- 
wise, the  good,  struggling  against  evil,  might  be  falsely  con- 
demned, because  they  bear  upon  the  person  some  trace  or  stain 
of  the  adversary  against  whom  they  combat  in  the  Lord. 

204.  During  the  experiences  involved  in  this  fifth  trial,  the 
man  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural  learns  at  last  to  put 
impHcit  confidence  in  his  dear  Lord.  Nights  of  anguish  are 
succeeded  by  days  of  rest ;  and  the  griefs  are  transient,  but 
the  joys  remain.  Every  injection  of  evil  magnetic  fii^e  into  the 
system  searches  out  something  organic  which  is  impure,  and  of 
a  kindred  quality ;  and  if  it  brings  struggle,  and  dispute,  and 
even  torture  in  the  frame,  the  results  are  peaceful  and  glorious. 
For  evil,  when  it  finds  nothing  congenial  to  itself,  recedes. 
Under  the  head  of  vicarious  atonement,  the  apparent  exceptions 
to  this  rule  will  be  taken  up.  Our  Lord  is  the  Infinite  Econo- 
mist, and  turns  the  current  of  evil  to  advantage  for  the  good. 
It  is  literally  true,  that  the  Devil's  rivers  must  turn  the  miUs 
of  his  Divine  Conqueror.  When  the  individual  has  learned 
wisely  to  profit  by  every  affictive  visitation  of  this  sort,  he  is 
approved  in  its  degree. 

205.  The  sixth  trial-test  of  faith  and  obedience,  to  the  man 
who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural,  is  cessation  from  correspond- 
ence, except  when  directed  from  within  by  the  Divine  Spirit. 
This,  which  seems  comparatively  an  easy  thing,  is  one  against 
which  there  is  a  great  rebelHon.  The  natural  man  sits  down 
to  write  a  letter  to  a  friend,  his  thoughts  and  feelings  flow  into 
the  page.  It  is  talismanic,  and  transmits  the  essence  of  his 
affections  ;  or  otherwise,  magnetised  by  a  famihar  spirit,  serves 
as  a  channel  for  a  virus  from  the  lower  land.  The  transmission 
of  thought,  harmless  in  persons  who  are  in  dead  closed  states, 
becomes  to  those  who  begin  to  be  quickened  and  opened,  o 
momentous  consequence.  No  man  who  is  becoming  spiritual- 
natural  can  so  much  as  write  a  letter,  to  any  individual,  without 
entering  by  the  telegraphic  projection  of  a  mental  ray,  into 
absolute  rapport.     This  is  perceived  alike  by  the  angels  and 


110  ARC  Ah'' A    OF    CnRISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

evil  spirits  atteiKlant  at  cither  extremity  of  tlio  electric  line, 
Tliouglits  pass  and  repass  along  it,  from  the  inmost  lives  of  one 
to  tlie  other,  so  that,  were  they  divested  of  the  flesh,  it  would 
be  a  conversation  face  to  face. 

206.  There  are  in  the  Spiritual  Hell  horned  beasts,  full  of 
eyes,  which  emit,  from  every  point,  lurid,  meteoric  rays.  A 
demon  of  that  Hell  is  sometimes  seen  attended  by  two  of  these 
beasts.  Obedient  to  his  slightest  request,  for  a  time,  they 
cruelly  delight,  with  their  darting  fii'e-flames,  to  make  war 
against  such  in  the  earth  as  are  becoming  spiritual -natural. 
Woo  to  the  man  over  whom  one  of  these  beasts  gains  power. 
They  are  created  by  means  of  a  convergence  from  the  inmost 
and  deepest  Hell  of  the  embodied  hatreds  of  the  lost.  Each 
hatred  is  composed  of  a  serpent  shape,  bearing  in  the  centre 
of  its  wormy  forehead  a  fixed,  gleaming  eye-ball.  All  these 
eye-balls  revolve  in  conjunction,  and  in  a  ten  thousand  times 
concentrated  glare.  The  intelligence  which  resides  within  the 
creature  is  such,  that,  when  it  is  once  directed  to  a  spiritual- 
natural  man,  it  can  remain  fixed  and  motionless  for  months 
upon  the  object  on  which  it  gloats  and  glowers.  It  is  of  the 
natm-e  of  the  vampire.  In  this  position,  provided  it  can  obtain 
a  magnetic  hold  upon  the  cerebrum  of  its  victim,  it  punctures 
the  little  cells  in  the  spiritual  degree  of  the  brain,  and  attracts 
toward  itself  the  spiritual  nerve  essence. 

207.  Now  the  reason  why  the  Lord,  at  a  particular  stage  in 
the  process  of  the  establishment  of  the  new  creation  in  the 
spiritual-natural  man,  absolutely  forbids,  by  a  divine  suggestion 
from  within,  that  epistolary  correspondence  should  be  carried 
on  independently  of  and  ignoring  the  divine  guidance,  is  espe- 
cially, that  the  mind,  becoming  fixed  upon  the  object  of  its 
correspondence,  is  terribly  in  danger  from  the  infestations  of  this 
creature.  Its  horns  are  indicative  of  power  in  ultimates.  It 
is  the  boast  of  demons  that  they  conduct  the  chief  part  of  the 
correspondence  of  mankind.  In  correspondence,  carried  on 
without  order,  the  mind  becomes  bewildered  internally  in  a 
labyrinth  of  tortuous  ideas.  It  is  unconsciously  attempting 
to  impress  its  thoughts  upon  the  correspondent;  and  at  the 
same  time  to  distil  the  very  essence  of  its  mentality  into  a 
fine  and  subtle  fluid,  which  shall  charm  the  page. 


SEC.  206—210.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  Ill 

208.  It  is  entirely  in  order  tlius  to  write  in  tlie  Divine  ap- 
pointment. Writing  becomes  finally  a  terrific  act.  It  involves 
tlie  Mgliest  potencies  of  the  man.  Hearing  tlie  Divine  Voice 
calling  him  to  correspond^  his  immensely  diSused  sphere  is 
gathered  together.  A  ray  from  the  Divine  Intelligence  leaps 
through  the  brain.  It  finds  unerringly  the  one  to  whom  com- 
munication is  to  be  made.  If  there  be  a  demon  intervening, 
it  smites  him  down  as  with  a  thunderbolt,  that  the  divine  ends 
may  be  carried  out.  The  words  that  are  written  in  the  Spirit 
are  media  for  the  Spirit.  They  are  charmed  with  persuasion. 
The  divine  influx  is  distributed  through  every  cell  of  the 
texture  of  the  substance  on  which  they  are  written.  They 
are  sent  in  the  divine  harmony.  The  ends  for  which  they  are 
intended  are  already  prepared,  deep  within  the  subjective  con- 
sciousness of  the  one  or  ones  to  whom  they  are  to  go.  The  fire 
from  the  Lord  which  secretly  burns  within  them,  goes  thrilling 
to  the  heart,  pervaded  with  a  sweet  and  secret  charm. 

209.  It  is  to  prevent  such  letter-writing  as  this,  that,  while 
the  man  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural  wavers,  perhaps,  and 
hesitates,  and  from  external  judgment  seeks  to  write  without 
an  internal  dictate,  the  infernal  rays  from  the  concentered  vi- 
sion of  the  creatm-e  of  the  Hells,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  rise 
up  to  attack  the  brain.  Woe  again  to  that  man  who  becomes  its 
slave.  That  Imid,  baneful  thing  is  sometimes  visible,  when 
lucid  vision  begins,  as  a  single  eye,  turning  in  a  fathomless  eye- 
socket,  set  in  nether  darkness  ;  or  luridly  phosphorescent,  float- 
ing above  the  plane  of  vision.  When  seen  as  from  above,  it 
is  an  evidence  that  the  nerve-spirit,  floating  about  the  system, 
is  being  attracted  toward  it.  It  is  a  warning  of  danger ;  what, 
ever  the  man  is  doing  he  should  cease,  as  far  as  possible,  and 
engage  in  the  wrestlings  of  mighty  prayer. 

210.  The  seventh  trial  which  awaits,  is  entire  abstinence 
from  literary  composition ;  if  for  the  author,  the  production 
of  works  ;  if  for  the  lawyer,  the  preparation  of  briefs  and  argu- 
ments j  if  for  the  divine,  the  composition  of  sermons  or  essays, 
except  there  shall  be  felt  a  direct  and  conscious  prompting 
from  the  Lord  within  the  breast,  with  influxes  of  power.  The 
roots  of  the  tree  of  literary  composition,  as  practised  by  the 
unregenerate  man,  go  down  deeply  into  the  under  world.    The 


112  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

sermon,  the  novel,  the  forensic  argument,  the  Ijo-ic  or  romantic 
poem,  the  song  of  the  ballad--vvriter,  the  stately  and  elaborate 
historical  narrative,  or  philosophical  disquisition,  the  dry  trea- 
tises on  natural  science,  are  all  woven,  when  conditions  are 
favourable  for  infernal  action,  through  the  agencies  of  the  gulf 
of  lost  souls  in  the  Spiritual  Hell. 


SEVENTH  ILLUSTEATION. 

Evil  genii  of  novelists  in  the  Lowest  Earth  of  Spirits  and  in  the  Spiritual 
Hell. — Magic  wrought  by  them  on  terrestrial  authors,  whom  they  in- 
fluence and  inspire. 

211.  The  author  of  a  profane  novel  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury stood  before  me.  I  will  not  say  its  natural  author,  but  in 
any  case  a  mind  thi-ough  whom  it  was  elaborated,  either  in  the 
natural,  or  by  conjunction,  from  the  infernal  abode.  "Write," 
he  said,  "  for  us  a  novel.  I  was  the  author  of  Peregrine 
Pickle.  But  I  can  do  better  now."  I  hesitated  in  the  reply, 
until  words  were  given  me  of  the  Lord ;  rejoining  then,  "  Are 
you  a  servant  of  Him  I  serve  ?  If  so,  continue  your  discourse.^' 
To  this,  with  a  curt  dignity,  he  responded,  "  Sir,  I  serve  no 
man,  Jewish  or  Pagan,  Cicero  or  Jove  ;  I  serve  myself,  and  am 
a  hard  master.  I  assisted  that  Ainsworth  to  compose  Guy 
Fawkes,  and  a  sad  botch  he  made  of  it,  to  be  sure.  A  famous 
romance  writer  was  spoiled,  my  dear  sir,  when  you  took  up  the 
trade  of  a  parson.  But  whet  your  invention;  forget  your 
style  of  moralising ;  leave  the  gods  to  take  care  of  themselves ; 
study  the  taste  of  your  contemporaries ;  and,  harkee  !  1^11 
father  the  bantling;  see,  I  have  him  already  in  my  brain- 
box  !" 

212.  More  to  the  same  effect  was  adduced,  not  here  to  be 
repeated.  He  whistled,  as  if  in  an  abstracted  state ;  in  a 
moment  after,  when  an  associate  of  his  approached  as  if  by 
chance ;  whether  truly  or  falsely,  he  stated  himself  to  have 
been  known  as  the  composer  of  the  "  Beggars^  Opera."  I  was 
then  led,  in  the  spirit,  to  accompany  them,  being  invisibly 
guarded  from  above,  to  many  scenes  in  the  Lowest  Spiritual 
Earth  connected  with  our  globe,  where  souls  are  in  their  last 
state  prior  to  being  cast  into  Hell.     This  thing,  from  many 


SEC.  211— 213.]        TRE   AFOCALTPSE.  113 


other Sj  is  laid  upon  me  to  narrate.  I  saw  tlie  evil  genii  of 
Lord  Lytton,  Charles  Dickens,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  and  the 
late  James  Fennimore  Cooper ;  perfect  fac-similes  in  appear- 
ance, and  even  dress,  of  the  gentlemen  whose  names  I  have 
repeated.  They  evinced  the  same  spmt  of  professional  rivahy 
which  distinguishes  the  literary  class  on  Earth,  indulging  in 
acute  and  profound  criticisms  of  each  other^s  works,  claiming 
as  their  own  the  well-known  productions  of  the  authors  whom 
they  represented ;  but  invariably,  by  direct  or  indirect  remark, 
accusing  their  natural  prototypes  of  keeping  back  the  best 
things  which  they  suggested  to  their  imaginations,  as  not  pre- 
cisely adapted  to  the  present  polish  of  the  age. 

213.  One  said  of  Mr.  Charles  Dickens,  "  When  I  get  that 
fellow  here,  he  shall  know  where  the  feathers  came  from  that 
he  struts  under.^^  Another  retorted  with,  "  Perhaps  he  will 
not  come  here  at  all ; "  to  which  the  reply  was,  with  a  horrible 
grin,  ''  I  have  bird-limed  the  twig  he  stands  on ;  we  will  have 
him  for  an  actor  jet."  They  then  made  a  wager,  which  of  the 
two,  Dickens  or  Thackeray,  should  be  first  in  that  loathsome 
place.  I  recognised  in  the  mind  of  one,  the  aptness  of  roman- 
tic description,  the  'penchant  for  sentiment,  which  characterize 
the  brilliant  author  of  ^^Zanoni."  The  knowledge  of  the 
world,  the  humour,  the  clear-cut,  epigrammatic  distinctness 
of  the  pen  that  wrote  "  Vanity  Fair  "  and  "  Pendennis,''^  were 
displayed  by  another.  The  genius  who  claimed  for  his  humble 
earthly  servant  and  copyist,  the  facile  and  graceful  writer  of 
"  Pickwick  "  and  "  David  Copperfield,"  was  the  most  protean 
and  versatile  of  all ;  now,  hopping  on  one  leg,  he  hid  his  hu- 
man features  under  a  feathery  mask,  as  if  he  were  a  huge  barn- 
door fowl,  and  then  became,  in  rapid  successions,  an  hostler,  an 
inn-keeper,  lackey,  boots,  champion  of  distressed  virtue,  and 
nobleman  in  disguise.  My  indignation  was  kindled  within  me, 
as  he  profanely  parodied  "  Tiny  Tim  "  and  ''  Little  Nell.^^  At 
this  he  did  not  seem  at  all  offended,  but  took  it  as  a  compli- 
ment, cracking  nuts  a  moment  afterward,  in  the  character  of  a 
heartless  policeman  conducting  a  relative  before  a  magistrate 
to  answer  to  a  charge  of  murder.  A  moment  after  he  assumed 
the  well-known  likeness  of  "  Mr.  Pickwick,''  and  presented  me 
his  card. 


114.  AECANA   OF  CRBI8TIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

214.  Theso  jolly  fellows  soou  after  became  revealed  in  a 
more  terrible  aspect,  accusing  each  other  of  having  stolen  fa- 
vom'ite  characters  one  from  another,  and  cutting  up  in  a  most 
merciless  style  the  persons,  situations,  plots  and  incidents  of 
one  another's  books.  A  portly  man,  who  represented  a  lite- 
rary nobleman  of  the  last  age,  interposed  to  make  peace,  and 
fell  to  flattering  them  with  an  adroit  grace,  full  of  courtier- 
ship  ;  but  he  was  a  demon  from  the  Spiritual  Hell,  and,  as  if 
he  could  not  conceal  the  secret  from  a  bystander,  whispered, 
so  that  they  should  not  hear,  "  These  simpletons  think  that 
they  suggested  to  the  earthlings  of  the  author  tribe,  certain 
popular  romances  :  and  so  they  did.  But,  my  dear  sir,  they  are 
our  lackeys  after  all,  and  we  spout  through  their  minds  our 
superabundant  humour,  that  trickles  out  into  the  natural  world . 
Stand  apart  and  the  real  Messrs.  Dickens,  Thackeray  and  Bul- 
wer  shall  appear.  Then  see  wonders  fit  to  be  narrated  in  a 
senate  of  Olympian  gods.V 

215.  A  smiling,  graceful  young  man,  affecting  extreme 
fashion,  emerged  from  some  jslace  invisible,  mimicking  court  gen- 
tility, and  holding  a  manuscript.  The  old  courtier  whispered, 
sotto  voce,  "  Dickens  the  first,  the  original  ! "  The  spirit,  who 
had  previously  represented  the  author,  obediently  approached, 
as  drawn  by  some  magnet,  and  the  young,  elaborately  cos- 
tumed gentleman,  in  the  blandest  tones,  observed,  "  Have  you 
done  my  bidding,  sir.^'  Instantly  the  self-consequence  and 
elation  of  the  one  thus  addressed  disappeared,  and  he  replied 
in  the  affirmative.  "  Good,'''  was  the  response ;  ''  I  have  no 
objection  to  your  assumptions  of  my  cast-off  clothes.  They 
are  the  perquisites  of  the  body  servant.  Inform  this  guest, 
whom  I  wait  to  entertain,  that  you  are  the  channel  of  commu- 
nication between  the  Mr.  Dickens,  and  the  person  in  London 
who  acts  as  the  vendor  of  his  works  and  the  representative  of 
his  name."  Humbly,  and  yet  with  a  certain  twinge  of  hate  in 
his  face,  masked  by  smiling  humovir,  and  relapsing  into  the 
character  of  the  facetious  valet  of  "  Pickwick,"  the  original  per- 
sonator  muttered  something  about  a  '^mutton  swarry,"  and 
remarked  in  a  louder  tone,  "  I  am  the  humble  servant  of  Mr. 
Dickens."  His  smiling  master  added,  "  Who  does  himself  the 
honour  to  bid  vou  welcome  to  his  house." 


SEC.  214—218.]         THE   AFOGALYPSU.  115 

216.  Behold;,  then,  tlie  self-styled  master  in  tlie  character 
assumed  first  by  the  servant ;  the  inspiring  demon  substituted 
for  the  inspired  familiar  !  Of  what  I  saw  in  that  demon^s  dwell- 
ing-place I  can,  speak  but  in  part. — "  I  could  a  tale  unfold." 
Costly  paintings,  in  frames  of  sumptuous,  golden,  filagree  work; 
with  here  and  there  a  statue  in  the  antique,  or  some  superb 
mirror  doubling  the  efi'ect  of  the  coup  3/ ceil,  snowy  stalactital 
pendants  from  the  carved  roof,  and  on  the  floor  tapestried 
carpets,  blushing  with  tropical  tints,  met  my  sight,  as  the 
demon  introduced  me  to  the  superb  horror,  which  he  called  his 
home.  Then,  suddenly  stooping  down,  and  taking  up  a  handful 
of  what  seemed  dust,  while  a  vengeful  glare  illumined  his 
countenance,  he  cast  it  into  my  bosom,  and  cried,  "  Take  hell 
seed,  take  hell  seed." 

217.  "  I  w'll  take  them,"  the  Lord  gave  me  words  to  answer, 
"  and  use  them.  And  the  first  use  I  make  of  them  shall  be 
to  narrate  this  scene."  His  former  courteous  smile  returned. 
"I  am  subject,"  he  blandly  whispered,  'Ho  an  infirmity, 
which  I  know  not  at  what  moment  may  overcome  me.  I 
think,  as  good  Swedenborg  somewhere  remarks,  I  must  have 
an  attendant  demon ;  and  who  knows  but  this  may  be  premo- 
nitory of  one  of  those  experiences  which  he  facetiously  terms 
'  temptation  combats  from  the  hells. ^  But  come," — approaching 
a  sideboard  where  shone  an  array  of  sparkling  wine  bottles, 
to  which  he  motioned  me, — '^  here  is  that  which  cheer eth  the 
heart  of  god  and  man.  What  beverage  do  you  prefer  ?  The 
good  bottle  imps  respect  my  seal,  though  it  isn^t  Solomon's. 
Solomon,  by  the  way,  has  an  oriental  villa  just  below.  Capital 
old  gentleman,  but  rather  proverbial." 

218.  In  this  gay,  nonchalant  manner,  the  demon  rambled  on. 
I  approached  the  tempting  array  before  me,  where  apparently 
every  famous  vintage  found  a  place ;  but  while  an  embossed 
metallic  label  denoted  the  quality  of  each,  there  were  cabalistic 
characters  inwrought,  and  I  read  on  one,  as  the  Divine  percep- 
tion was  given  me  to  interpret,  ''  Emotions  of  a  suicide  ;  "  on 
another,  '^  Sensations  of  Damiens  when  broken  on  the  wheel." 
On  another  still,  "The  prince  D.  slew  his  paramour  from 
jealousy  ;  his  emotions."  On  another,  "  Distillation  of  coquet- 
ry."    Beyond  this,  one  that  seemed  aged,  bore  the  inscription^ 

H  2 


116  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  it. 

"Judas  sold  J.  C.  Wliat  lie  experienced  during  tlie  passion 
of  the  cross."  I  dare  not  repeat  further  on  this  point. 
A  curious  double  smile  flickered  upon  his  visage,  and  he 
pressed  nie  to  a  draught.  I  thought  of  the  text,  and  of  the 
promise  of  the  Master,  "  These  signs  shall  follow  them  that 
believe.  If  they  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt 
them.'''  And  again,  "  They  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second 
death."  So  words  were  given  me  to  answer,  "  I  will  drink 
with  you,  even  of  this,"  pointing  to  the  very  last.  "'No/' 
was  the  answer ;  "  I  have  not  drunk  of  that.  Pardon  me,  I 
had  this  of  a  particular  friend,  who,  I  assure  you,  produced 
the  vine  from  seeds  of  his  own  planting.  I  am  a  charitable 
acquaintance,  and  keep  that  to  solace  the  last  hours  of  any 
protege  who  is  about  to  shuffle  off  the  mortal  coil.  It  is  well 
to  tone  up  the  nerves.  I  have  a  man  now,  with  my  eye  in  his 
heart,  too  coarse  to  write  books,  though  he  would  be  glad  of 
the  author's  fame.  He  is  a  ripe  one.  This  I  reserve  ;  he  will 
need  it  to  distil  hope  upon  his  pillow." 

219.  '^Pardon  me,"  I  rejoined,  "but  you  start  a  singular 
psychical  problem.  It  looks  as  if  it  gushed  from  the  sur- 
charged veins  of  a  suicide.  How  can  this  comfort  ?  "  "  Why," 
came  the  ready  response,  "  were  I  to  affect  a  faith  which  some 
of  my  over- credulous  friends  entertain,  I  might  say,  nothing 
so  sweet  or  bitter,  but  that,  under  given  conditions,  acts  by 
contraries.  That  man's  soul  is  boiling  with  secret  rage 
against  the  Nazarene;  this  vintage  grew  in  the  garden  of 
one  who  conferred  a  favour  on  that  gentleman's  particular 
enemies.  It  might  soothe  the  transit  of  our  expected  friend 
and  my  jyroiccie,  to  quaff  a  distillation  from  the  bosom  of  a 
forerunner,  when  bursting  his  chrysalis.  If  a  little  of  the  un- 
palatable is  in  the  grape,  contraria  contrarihus,  it  might  taste  all 
the  more  delicious."  I  looked  at  the  demon,  while  he  spoke, 
noticing  still  the  same  peculiar  double  smile.  He  pressed  me 
to  another  draught,  with  a  phrase  about  "  Horace  and  his  old 
Falernian ;  "  but,  scrutinising  this,  I  detected  that  it  was  of 
the  quality  of  the  despair  of  a  poet  whom  long-continued  vices 
had  cast  into  the  World  of  Pain. 

220.  Shortly  afterward  the  demon  resumed  the  conversa- 
tion.    "  You  were  conversing  with  a  convive  of  mine  about 


SEC.  219—221.]        THE   APOCALTPSE.  117 

authorship.  The  transmission  of  thought  is  one  of  the  best 
jokes  going.  It  is  the  current  fashion  with  the  literary,  to 
deny  ghosts  and  that  sort  of  thing.  My  representative  person, 
Charles  Dickens,  does  his  best  to  lead  the  world  that  way ; 
that  is  because  it  affects  my  whim.  It  pleases  the  evangelical 
sects,  with  whom  at  present  he  is  rather  in  disfavour,  this  sneer- 
ing at  the  idea  that  spirits  ever  make  any  mischief,  or  intrude 
their  ghostly  presences  on  mundane  soil.  Satan,  you  see,  is  a 
private  property  of  that  concern ;  good  as  a  lay  figure  in  the 
studio  of  the  pulpit  artist ;  but  wholly  an  affair  of  the  property 
man.  Ha,  ha  !  picture  the  defunct  majesty  of  Denmark,  rising 
through  the  solid  floors  of  the  conventicle,  and  startling  the 
meditations  of  these  gentlemen  at  ease,  who  star  it  in  Zion^s 
holy  halls.  Their  Satan  is  a  lay  figure,  I  assm-e  you;  and 
what  is  more,  they  bless  Dickens  the  third,  the  shadow  of  my 
shadow,  for  setting  the  tide  of  public  prejudice  against  the 
belief  of  apparitions  from  the  World  of  Spmts.  We  thrive, 
sir,  we  thrive." 

221.  I  began  to  be  tired  of  this  demon's  assumptions,  and 
said,  "  You  never  composed  the  character  of  '  Tiny  Tim.'  You 
never  imagined  the  reality  of  female  saintliness,  the  trust  in 
an  overruling  Providence,  embodied  in  the  sweet  lyric  notes 
which  celebrate  the  homeward  journey  of  the  pure  in  heart  to 
the  father-land  above.  Let  the  Mr.  Dickens  on  earth  have  the 
credit  of  another  source  for  the  true  and  noble  things,  that 
often  make  hearts  glow  with  sacred  pity,  or  melt  in  authentic 
love  as  they  peruse  his  page.''  The  demon  interrupted  me  with, 
"  Hold,  hold,  enough !  let  me  anticipate.  You  imagine  that 
the  sentimentalists  have  been  caught ;  ha,  ha  !  "  "  No,"  I 
replied,  ''  that  bad  men  have  been  shamed ;  that  irresolute 
men  have  been  held  spell-bound  tiU  a  better  genius  has 
turned  the  tide  against  wrong  ;  that  sweet  womanly  trust  has 
been  nourished  and  lonely  hours  soothed."  "  My  good  friend," 
was  the  response,  "you  talk  like  a  Chadband.  A  dash  of 
pineapple  rum,  on  to  the  lastly,  would  sanctify  the  discourse 
unto  many  a  vessel's  heart.  The  jest  aside,  I  take  credit  to 
myself  for  it  all.  I  can  show  you  a  woman,  in  this  house,  who 
will  more  pathetically  speak,  more  exquisitely  delineate  the 
stage-virtues,  than  Siddons  did,  or  than  any  earthly  actress  can. 


118  ARCANA   OF  GIIRISTIANITT.  [chap.  n. 

I  draw  my  inspirations  from  an  armfull  of  delicious  woman- 
hood, whose  feminine  sweetness  distils  in  embodied  essences 
of  surpassing  beauty  through  the  mind.  She  isn't  the  only 
one.  Not  that  I  am  immoral,  far  from  it ;  but  paradise  is  a 
holy  land,  as  I  have  heard  you  sing  : — 

"  There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight 
"Wlierc  saints  immortal  reign; 
Infinite  day  excludes  the  night. 
And  pleasures  banish  pain." 

222.  Methinks  I  hear  the  reader  say,  '' Horrible,  oh  hor- 
rible !  "  Indeed  it  is. — The  demon  now  drew  my  attention  to 
the  paintings.  Human  loveliness  seemed  to  live  again,  as  I 
gazed  upon  the  canvas.  The  Aphrodite,  rising  from  the  deep, 
and  blushing  at  her  own  half  infantile  beauty,  reflected  in  the 
gleaming  lines  of  the  pearl  shell,  that  seemed  itself  suspended 
between  an  aerial  and  an  oceanic  heaven ;  the  realized  imagi- 
nations of  the  masters  of  classic  poetry;  the  long  representative 
line  of  chivalrous  and  kingly  heroes ;  the  world  queens  of  the 
court,  the  boudoir,  and  the  stage ;  Pompeian  apartments  with 
the  gay  Roman  at  his  feasts,  crowned  with  flowers ;  English 
country  houses  with  happy  groups  around  the  fireside,  and 
hospitable  welcomings  for  the  Christmas  cheer;  antique 
churches  clad  without  with  the  twining  ivy,  and  within  bear- 
ing monumental  devices  upon  the  walls,  while  Youth  and 
Beauty,  in  the  costumes  of  the  bridal-day,  knelt  before  the 
altar;  scenes  which  for  their  exquisite,  magnificent  grace, 
might  make  the  artist  of  words  or  colours  despair  of  their  re- 
presentation,— all  these,  turn  where  I  would,  produced  at  once 
astonishment  and  admiration.  Then  the  demon  exclaimed, 
''  You  wish  to  disbelieve  that  I  am  able  to  delineate,  through 
an  earthly  mind,  certain  artistic  character-pictures.  But  can  I 
not  paint  these  pictures  ?  I  hold  that  man  in  sleep,  till  image 
by  image  these  things  are  left  indelibly  imprinted  behind  the 
eye,  where  mind  and  vision  meet  together.  He  is  indebted 
to  me  for  prosperity.     I  have  made  him  what  he  is." 

223.  If  thus  feebly  I  attempt  to  narrate  a  conversation  with 
this  versatile  and  brilliant  demon,  I  am  far  from  endorsing  his 
pretensions.  Still,  I  am  compelled  to  admit  that  it  is  possible 
for  any  novel  of  our  day,  good  as  well  as  bad,  any  play,  any 
ballad,  to  have  an  infernal  origin.     Not  one  of  the  characters 


SEC.  222—224.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  319 


of  Dickens,  Bulwer,  or  Thackeray,  so  far  as  my  perception 
extends,  can  cope  as  a  verbal  delineation  with  the  pictorial 
representations  in  that  demon^s  house.  One  says  here,  "  You 
make  hell  so  beautiful  that  it  cannot  be,  after  all,  any  other  than 
a  delicious  retreat.  What  glories  astonish,  what  beauties  feast 
the  vision  !  There  are  the  charms  that  intoxicate  the  senses, 
and  the  mental  powers  for  which  the  intellect  strives  with 
every  faculty  on  earth. 

"  The  hero's  deeds,  the  martjr's  prayers, 
And  the  wrapt  poet's  haunting  airs.'" 

224.  No,  they  are  not;  as  the  sequel  proves.  The  silver 
bell  chimed.  A  cock  crew.  The  true  dawn  light  shone  from 
Heaven  upon  that  scene  of  mock  delight.  It  was  baseless  all, 
having  no  foundation  in  the  purity  of  the  accepted  heart.  The 
demon,  at  this  moment,  was  unable  longer  to  maintain  that 
mental  condition  in  which  the  form-glories  of  the  Heavens, 
by  a  process  of  sorcery,  can  be  made  to  clothe  and  conceal  the 
horror.  First,  his  bloom  faded,  as  when  some  worn  hahitue  of 
the  stage,  or  haunter  of  the  pave,  exposes  the  rouged  cheek 
to  the  grey  dawn  light  and  the  pelting  rain.  I  saw  a  comely 
youth  no  longer,  but  gnawing  the  nether  lip,  while  the  eye 
balls  rolled  through  a  watery  rheum  of  fire,  streaked  and 
mixed  with  blood,  shone  a  countenance  in  which  every  bad 
passion  seemed  to  have  set  its  indelible  seal.  A  Medusa-like 
woman  darted  out  from  some  foul  secrecy  at  hand,  and  oh, 
horror  of  horrors  !  Enough  of  an  imitative  loveliness  survived 
to  make  her  fiendhood  insupportable.  One  breast  was  that  of 
a  virgin  in  the  prime, — this  the  illusion ;  the  other  an  ulcerous 
cavern, — that  the  reality.  The  right  hand  fair,  full,  with  taper- 
ing fingers,  lit  with  amethysts  and  emeralds ; — such  hands 
have  spiritualists  at  seances  more  than  once  beheld ; — but  here 
was  the  deception ;  from  the  thin,  skinny  fingers  of  the  other, 
of  a  dead  white,  mottled  with  the  green  of  the  grave,  dropped  • 
the  foul  worms  and  the  black  tears  that  trickle  from  the 
putrescence  that  is  hid  in  coffins;  and  this  the  fact.  The 
right  side  of  the  cheek  still  retained  the  illusive  glow,  the 
auroral  freshness ;  and  half  the  lips  were  pouting  full  carna- 
tion, but  the  other  half,  rottenness. 

"  Can  sucli  things  be, 
And  overcoiuo  us,  like  a  suminer  cloud, 
Without  ouf  special  wonder ? " 


120  ABCAWA    OF   CnBISTIANITT.         [ckap.  ii. 

The  two  embraced,  and  tlie  woman-fiend  literally  tore  him 
from  the  ground  on  which  he  stood,  and  drew  him  shriek- 
insT  into  her  secret  habitation. 


225.  I  would  make  this  earnest  appeal  to  literary  men,  and 
especially  to  those  who  know  by  experience  what  putrescence 
is  extant  beneath  the  world's  brilliancy  and  bloom.  If  there 
be  such  a  thing  as  sin  at  all,  it  cannot  be  a  thing  of  moderate 
quality.  It  must  be  the  very  opposite  and  antagonist  of  the 
essential  purity  which  the  Divine  nature  Is.  If  men  are  spirits 
at  all,  they  either  in  their  finest  affections  cherish  a  supreme 
love  for  moral  good  or  for  moral  evil.  If  the  latter,  since 
sympathy,  which  is  wide  as  space,  is  deep  as  spirit,  this  finest 
essence  of  their  nature  must  beat,  in  pauseless  pulsations,  with 
the  finest  essences  of  all  artist  natures ;  therefore  it  is  possible, 
through  sympathy,  for  the  sinful  heart  on  Earth  to  drink  in 
distillations  from  its  great  inversive  brotherhood  in  final  night. 
But  the  nature  of  the  literary  man  is  eminently  representative. 
The  successfid  character  upon  the  page  must  have  its  prior  life 
within  the  brain.  Now  what  is  there  to  prevent,  as  the  demon 
said,  the  insemination  of  the  brain  from  the  embraces  of  that 
secret  essence  to  which  it  is  allied  ? 

226.  Now  again,  what  novel  of  societyis  there  which  embodies 
this  fundamental  truth,  that  the  human  spirit  is  the  theatre  for 
the  evolution  of  Heaven  or  Hell;  that  shows  the  visible  actors  on 
the  mundane  theatre  to  be  the  inspired  recipients  of  the  divine 
loves  or  then*  infernal  opposites  ?  Or  again,  what  novel  of 
society  is  there  which  reveals  the  fiend  in-souhng  himself  within 
the  gay,  courteous,  gentlemanly  devotee  of  fashion,  of  art,  of 
pleasure,  of  politics,  who  yet  is  living,  as  to  his  motives,  without 
God  in  the  world  ?  Where  are  the  publishers  for  such  books 
when  written  ?  Where  are  the  readers  when  published  ?  Ai'e 
not  authors  dependent  upon  the  illusions  of  their  time  ?  They 
xide  the  crocodile  of  corrupt  taste  under  penalty  of  being  de- 
stroyed by  him.  If  either  literally  or  symbolically  it  be  true  that 
the  prince  of  demons  deceived  Earth's  first  mother  with  cun- 
ning subterfuges,  may  not  all  her  children  be  spiritually  open 
to  the  myrmidcns  of  the  one  arch-fiend  ?     Is  the  still  small 


SEC.  225—228.]        TRE   AFOCALTPSE.  121 

voice  of  God  lieard  througli  current  literature  ?  Do  men  who 
write^  purify  themselves  in  holy  converse  and  communion  with 
the  Father  of  spirits  before  they  essay  the  pen  ?  Is  it  believed 
that  God  has  anything  to  do  with  the  book  which  is  to  win 
bread  or  gain  applause  ?  But  if  we  are^  so  far  as  conscious- 
ness goes,  confessedly  godless  as  to  our  inspirations,  whence, 
from  what  other  source  may  they  possibly  proceed  ?  If  the 
infernal  intellect  evolves  successions  of  ideas,  why  may  it  not 
insinuate  those  ideas  into  the  minds  of  men  who  write  on 
Earth ;  if  not  in  waking,  then  in  sleeping  hours  ? 

227.  That  trial  test  of  cessation  from  literary  composition, 
except  in  the  opening  of  the  mind  to  clear  perceptions  that  the 
form  and  order  of  the  work  is  from  the  Lord,  is  for  the  pur- 
pose, first,  of  arresting  the  inflow  of  suggestive  thoughts  and 
images  from  the  attendant  demon  who  is  with  every  literary 
man.  The  familiars  or  spirits  from  the  lowest  Spiritual  Earth 
of  evil  in  conjunction  with  our  globe,  alluded  to  before,  are,  in 
truth,  the  false  ones  to  whom  demons  from  the  Spiritual  Hell 
have  assigned  the  task  of  instilling,  and  so  far  as  they  are 
capable,  of  organizing  ideas  and  trains  of  thought,  into  the 
minds  of  those  terrestrial  authors  of  whom  mention  has  been 
made.  It  is  true,  as  well,  that  the  demon  who  claimed  to  be 
the  original  delineator  of  the  character- sketches  and  groupings 
in  the  recognised  works  of  one  of  these  well-known  men  of 
letters,  is  that  infernal  spirit  who  from  the  cradle  has  stu- 
diously sought  to  control  and  direct  his  mind,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  close  it  against  the  Divine  Source  of  light,  eloquence, 
and  power. 


EIGHTH  ILLUSTEATION. 

A  conversation  with  angels  in  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  who  are  attendant  on 
the  authors  spoken  of  in  the  last  illustration,  on  the  methods  of 
development  of  the  powers  of  novelists. 

228.  The  author-world  on  Earth,  at  the  present  day,  is 
balanced  in  equilibrium  between  the  author-world  in  Heaven, 
and  its  inversion  in  Hell.  Shortly  after  my  intromission  into 
the  latter,  I  was  in  the  spirit,  on  a  clear,  bright  Sabbath-day. 
The  birds  of  the  early  summer  were  in  the  bran,ches,  and  the 


122  ABCANA   OF  CnRISTIANITT.         [citap.  ir. 

natural  world  in  the  utmost  of  her  cliarra.  I  was  translated  to 
a  broad,  luminous  landscape  in  the  Spiritual  Heaven.  Here  I 
behold  spiritual  angels,  who  are  attendant  on  three  of  the 
earthly  authors  spoken  of  before,  and  was  made  acquainted 
with  them.  Here  I  saw  the  celestial  prototypes  of  the  fairest 
and  noblest  characters  delineated  by  the  three.  I  was  informed 
that  from  time  to  time  heavenly  ideas  are  instilled  deeply  into 
the  minds  of  each  of  them,  and  that  whenever  the  demons  per- 
ceive it,  they  present,  if  possible,  an  inverted  conception  ;  that 
there  are  thus  two  opposite  scries  of  ideas  deploying  into  the 
surface  ground  of  consciousness,  but  that  neither  unmixed 
good  or  unmixed  evil  prevail ;  and  hence  the  hybridised  ro- 
mances, not  too  earnest  and  searching  to  be  made  unpalatable 
to  the  fastidious  sinner;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  calculated  to 
offend  the  sensibilities  of  the  average  devout.  I  asked  the  an- 
gels why  an  effort  was  not  made  to  cause  the  realities  of  Heaven 
and  Hell,  and  of  human  life  on  Earth,  to  flow  forth  through 
these  exquisite  artists  ?  The  reply  was,  that  nothing  could  be 
done  against  the  freedom  of  the  individual;  that  each  knew,  by  a 
fine  tact,  the  cravings  of  the  pu1)lic  taste,  and  that  neither  had 
the  most  remote  conception  of  the  terrible  near  proximity  in 
which  they  stood  to  the  demons  and  their  satellites.  I  forbear 
the  melancholy  tale  which  one  of  them  narrated. 

229.  I  inquired  again,  concerning  the  process  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  power  of  the  novelist.  I  was  told  that  in  Heaven 
exists  a  vast  magnificent  literature,  which,  in  a  modified  form, 
is  all  extant  in  the  Upper  Earth  of  Spirits  in  connection  with 
our  globe.  Children  on  Earth,  in  sleep  states  appear,  as  to 
their  spirits,  in  the  higher  World  of  Spirits.  There  Dickens, 
when  a  child,  absorbed  the  sweet  essence  of  the  thought  which 
flowed  forth  afterwards  in  creations  of  childish  beauty.  Cooper 
was  with  American  Indians  of  a  noble  character,  in  their  pro- 
vinces of  those  upper  Earths.  Bulwer  was  almost  a  spirit  seer, 
and  tremulously  alive,  in  his  young  senses,  to  supernal  influ- 
ences; Thackeray,  a  spirit  child  of  most  exquisite  presence, 
who  in  his  infantile  days,  nearly  heard  celestial  voices.  The 
author  career  of  each  might  have  been  far  different,  but  for  the 
degraded  condition  of  the  world  of  terrestrial  authorship. 
Society,  travel,   and  a  varied  experience  of  men  and  things, 


SEC.  229—232.]         TSJE  APOCALTFSE.  123 

simply  formed  a  body  in  the  mind  for  the  latent  conceptions 
immanent  within  it  from  the  higher  life. 


230.  This  mixed  and  doubtful  condition  of  the  terrestrial 
and  literary  man  is  to  end.  Already  the  death  omens  arc  not 
far  off.  Such  literary  men  as  have  become  fixed  in  the  service 
of  the  fiend,  which  is  identical  with  the  service  of  self,  will  feel 
the  approximation  of  the  Divine  breath  as  a  consuming  fire. 
The  Herods  of  literature,  who,  when  the  multitude,  listening 
to  fascinating  and  highly  wi'ought  delineations,  applaud  them 
with  the  cry,  '^  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god  and  not  of  a  man,^^  ap- 
propriate to  themselves  the  glory,  will  be  consumed  by  the 
rapid  and  almost  instantaneous  descent  of  spiritual  fires.  We 
live  in  the  sunset  hour  of  the  present  literary  age.  The  Lord 
will  have  a  new  literature.  For  this  purpose,  while  as  yet  the 
spiritual-natural  man  is  in  his  trial  states,  the  requisition  is 
sharply  laid  upon  him.  Write  not  but  from  the  Spirit.  He 
now  finds,  if  obedient,  a  recession  of  former  self-derived  or 
demon-derived  ideas,  and  incurs  at  this  point,  and  until  the 
end,  the  implacable  hostility  of  the  fiend  and  the  familiar. 

231.  So  long  as  man  writes  in  the  selfhood,  pursuing  what- 
ever inclination  is  uppermost,  he  receives  infernal  assistance 
in  his  works.  The  demon  stands  ready  to  pour  oil  from  the 
capacious  reservoirs  of  a  teeming  and  affluent  imagination, 
into  the  seven  lamps  of  the  inner  consciousness.  If  at  any 
time  thoughts  flag  and  imagination  loses  its  accustomed  bril- 
liance, it  is  either  because  the  angel  has  received  permission 
to  arrest,  in  part,  the  inflow  from  the  under  world,  or  because 
wearied  and  diseased  bodily  faculties  call  the  over-tasked  brain 
to  silence,  and  bid  it  sleep.  When  the  author  who  begins  to 
be  spiritual-natural  and  who  hearkens  to  the  Divine  Voice, 
determines  henceforth  and  for  ever,  to  write  as  the  penman  of 
the  Spirit,  the  demon  retires  to  a  distance.  Knowing  what 
consequences  must  ensue  to  him,  should  this  resolution  for  a 
series  of  years  be  carried  out,  he  now  pursues  a  policy  of 
changed  tactics,  varying  with  the  life-conditions  of  the  indi- 
vidual. 

232.  His  first  effort  is   by  insidious  inflowings  of  thought 


124  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.         [chap.  it. 

during  sleep,  to  beguile  the  mind  into  the  belief  that  the  pro- 
jections from  his  fancy  are  divine,  and  must  be  ultimated. 
But  failing  in  this,  he  sets  his  intellect  in  battle  against  the 
thought-processes  necessary  to  authorship.  Having  been  in 
attendance  upon  the  individual  for  years,  and  having  fed  and 
stimulated  the  organs  of  thought,  they  crave,  so  far  as  there  is 
disease,  their  accustomed  stimulus  and  pabulum.  "  The  horse 
knoweth  his  rider,  and  the  ass  his  master^s  crib.^^  So  the  facul- 
ties of  composition  which  the  demon  has  once  bestrode,  are 
not  indifferent  to  his  voice ;  and  so  the  vessels  of  the  brain 
that  have  replenished  themselves  from  the  essence  which  he 
instils,  know  the  source  from  whence  they  have  derived  nutri- 
ment, and  eagerly  seek  it  again.  From  this  time  there  is  war ; 
first,  between  the  author  and  the  rebellious  faculties  of  his  own 
organization,  which  must  be  coerced  into  the  new  harmony 
and  restrained  from  their  attraction  to  the  demon.  It  is 
through  conquests  of  this  sort  that  terrestrial  literature  is  to 
be  redeemed  to  God.  ^Vhen  the  demon  is  bafSed  in  his  first 
attempts,  he  re-enters  his  society  in  the  Spiritual  Hells, — for  he 
is  a  member  of  a  series  there, — and  propounds  his  difl&culties. 
From  this  time  sorceries  are  resorted  to,  which  will  be  spoken 
of  hereafter,  in  the  Magic  of  the  Hells. 

233.  The  tenth  trial  test  is  especially  applied  to  the  man 
becoming  spiritual-natiu-al,  whose  calling  has  been  the  stage. 
It  amounts  to  a  prohibition  to  act,  except  as  the  Lord,  de- 
scending into  the  internals  of  the  mind,  through  new  respira- 
tion, shall  endow  him  with  the  new  representative  capacities. 
Upon  harmonic  and  unfallen  worlds  rejDresentative  amusements 
are  frequent  and  of  an  incalculable  variety  from  planet  to 
planet  and  from  sun  to  sun.  The  theatre  on  earth  springs  as 
an  institution,  from  that  representative  element  which  under- 
lies all  consciousness. 

234.  There  is  no  plane  formed,  in  the  natural  reason  of  man 
for  discrimination  between  the  things  of  Heaven  and  those  of 
Hell.  It  is  only  when  the  Spirit  of  God  has  descended  into  the 
natural  consciousness  and  quickened  the  reason  from  its  dead 
state,  that  man  begins  to  perceive.  Were  demons  at  the  present 
day  to  possess  the  faculty  of  time  and  sense  presentation,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  appear  as  natural  men,  the  world  would  elect  them 


SEC.  233—234.]        TUB   APOCALYPSE.  125 

its  magistrates,  presiding  functionaries  in  the  state,  and  min- 
isters of  religion.  They  would  also  fill  the  professorships  of 
universities  and  conduct  themselves  in  so  dignified  a  manner 
as  to  win  golden  opinions  everywhere  from  unregenerate  man- 
kind. For  it  is  the  genius  of  self-love,  which  is  the  essence 
of  the  infernal  life,  to  clothe  itself  with  simulations,  and 
to  appear  well  to  all  men  by  a  dexterous  adaptation  of  the 
prevailing  sentiment  and  character  of  the  time.  "  Crush  the 
wretch,^ ^  was  the  Voltairian  motto  and  war-cry  against  the 
Lord.  The  demon  would,  however,  with  a  policy  more  astute, 
commend  the  faith  in  the  letter,  and  seek,  by  shrewd,  evasive 
expositions  in  the  natural  sense,  to  crucify  the  Regenerative 
Spirit.  Dissimulations  practised  in  any  mind  are  the  ground 
into  which  the  demon  instils  his  life.  The  art  of  seeming 
better  than  he  is,  brings  man  into  direct  relations  with  the 
huge  theatre  of  pandemonium.  The  sleek  bigot  of  the  con- 
venticle is  a  more  superb  actor  than  the  applauded  mime  who 
treads  the  boards.  To  act  a  part  is  natural  to  humanity.  The 
body  puts  on  and  repeats  the  states  of  the  atmosphere  about 
it,  of  the  earth,  the  winds,  and  the  sky.  The  mind  falls  readily 
into  the  trick  of  sorrow,  and  sympathetically  weeps  with 
those  who  weep.  We  grow  glad  by  sympathy  with  the  joys 
of  om*  kind.  As  the  acute  shepherd  dog  puts  on,  after  years 
of  association,  a  certain  animal  likeness  to  his  master's  face, 
so  the  man  who  lives  professionally  with  the  canine  race,  acts 
at  last  the  dog,  imbibes  the  animal  instinct,  and  often  the 
peculiar  quality  of  his  ferocious  nature.  The  Arab  and  his 
fleet  courser  take  upon  themselves  each  other's  dispositions. 
In  cities,  types  of  human  nature  are  developed  and  fixed, 
which  re-enact  the  drama  of  a  civilization  whose  inversions 
are  akin  to  Hell.  The  worst,  the  most  ferocious,  uncleanly, 
and  altogether  inhuman  types  of  men,  are  developed  from  the 
reckless  classes,  who  hide  their  shames  and  miseries  in  the 
by-streets  of  capitals,  where  the  human  wolf  is  seen  be- 
decked with  orders  and  called,  perhaps,  a  "  Marshal  of  the 
Empu'c."  No  internal  differences  necessarily  exist  between 
the  pi-inco  and  the  galley  slave.  The  king  is  trained  to  act  a 
part,  no  less  than  the  professional  beggar.  Seemings  arc  the 
stock  in  trade  of  almost  all  the  world. 


126  ARCANA   OF  CHBISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

235.  Men  are  seldom  or  never  surprised  into  reality.  The 
bad  man  is  liis  own  worst  dupe.  By  acting,  others  than  re- 
cognised stage-players  derive  their  bread.  Ho  is  but  the 
representative  of  a  principle  in  human  nature.  The  acting  of 
the  man  who  is  a  divine,  from  merely  professional  motives, 
differs  from  that  of  the  tragic  or  comic  delineator  but  in  this, 
that  the  first  denies  that  he  is  acting,  while  the  latter  glories 
in  it.  The  one  fits  himself  permanently  into  the  assumed 
character,  while  the  other  wears  it  for  an  hour  and  is  glad  to 
shako  it  off  again.  But  the  representative  function  has  its 
ends.  We  take  on  the  states  of  men  as  we  do  those  of 
climates.  One  whose  life  is  patterned  after  a  great  ideal, 
drops  perpetually  his  mantle  upon  a  troop  of  followers.  The 
man  who  breathes  from  internals  to  externals  cannot  walk  the 
"world  for  twenty  years,  in  his  divine  part,  without  inspiring  in 
some  of  the  multitude  a  desire  for  throwing  open  the  lungs  to 
the  infinite  aura  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Men  unconsciously  repeat 
the  gestures  of  the  eloquent  actor,  who,  in  earnest  himself, 
communicates  the  posture  of  his  mind  to  others ;  but  men  still 
more  truly  take  on  the  posture  of  the  eloquent  soul  that  seeks 
to  posture  forth  the  Infinite  Righteousness.  The  free  man 
who  is  enfranchised  from  the  errors  and  vices  of  his  time,  and 
who  walks  the  world  as  a  native  citizen  of  Heaven,  repeats 
in  himself  the  posture  of  the  Lord  Jesiis  Christ.  He  acts 
Messiah.  All  angels  act  their  Lord  and  King.  It  is  this  con- 
dition into  which  the  Lord  seeks  to  bring  the  new  man, — 
namely,  that  of  representing  or  bodying  forth  Himself.  And 
for  this  reason  it  is  that  He  forbids  the  one  who  is  becoming 
spiritual-natural  to  embody  a  part,  but  from  the  Holy  Ghost. 

236.  The  demon  theatres  of  Hell  endeavour,  through  the 
representative  ground  in  man,  to  posture  forth  the  tragedy 
and  comedy,  if  comedy  be  possible, — say  rather  the  tragedy 
and  farce, — of  Hell.  The  knotted  brows,  the  gnawing  lips, 
the  sinister  smiles,  the  hypocritical  gestures  of  mankind  are 
taken  on.  The  passions  group  themselves  within  the  spirit. 
In  obedience  to  the  great  dramatic  principle,  Infernus  seeks 
its  outlet,  and  finds  fit  men  for  its  purposes  through  the 
instinct  for  representative  display.  The  test  of  faith  applicable 
to  the  player  is  hence  appHcable  to  all  men ;  but  to  those  men 


SEC.  235—237.]         THE   APOCALYFSK  127 

who  are  becoming  spiritual-natural^  it  applies  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  The  celestial-natural  man  is  more  remote  from  the 
representative  field.  The  command  is  sternly  and  imperatively 
given,  "  Be  open  to  the  Holy  Ghost ;  take  on  the  state  the 
Lord  would  assign  you.  Assume  that  cast  in  the  divine  world- 
drama  which  the  Infinite  Dramatist  prepares.^^  Here,  in  a 
true  sense,  the  representative  faculty  finds  its  opportunity  of 
display.  The  stiffness  and  monotony  of  life  are  thus  displaced 
by  flexibility  and  variety.  The  true  man  takes  on  the  states 
the  Holy  Spirit  gives ;  and  those  depend  again  upon  the 
function  of  the  hour.  The  king  will  be  every  inch  a  king, 
representing  divine  honour  and  justice ;  but  not  the  less  the 
perpetual  lover  in  the  sanctities  of  the  conjugial  retreat ;  with 
children,  the  wiser  child ;  with  men  of  practical  affairs,  an 
equal  in  their  own  field.  The  Holy  Spirit  represents  a  vast 
variety  of  functions  through  the  spiritual-natural  man.  He  is 
cut  off  from  representations  in  the  selfhood,  that  he  may 
posture  forth  a  living  and  heroic  inspiration. 

NINTH  ILLUSTEATION. 

Interview  in  the  Spiritual  World  with  a  distinguished  actress  from  our 
earth.  Her  sorrowful  condition,  her  call  on  Jesus  for  mercy,  and  her 
deliverance. 

237.  A  distinguished  foreign  actress,  recently  deceased, 
stood  by  me  in  the  Spiritual  World.  The  basal  region  of  the 
brain  since  the  body's  decease,  had  developed  dugs  like  those  of 
a  sow.  She  screamed  with  horror,  as  she  felt  serpents  sucking 
at  them.  I  said  to  her,  "Do  you  know  what  these  are?" 
She  answered,   "1.  do."      Tearing  at  one  in  the  inefiectual 

effort  to  draw  it  from  the  dug,  she  said,  "  This  is ;  and 

this,"  tearing  at  another,  "is .     Cursed  be  their  fathers." 

Her  countenance  was  livid  and  blotched,  and  here  and  there 
marked  with  little  spots,  like  those  on  playing-cards.  She 
wore  a  horn  protruding  from,  or  adjusted  to,  the  forehead; 
and  over  this  a  singular  head-dress,  like  a  veil  which  de- 
scended. She  continued,  "  Every  night  come  those  ten  ser- 
pents, and  they  suck  their  fill.  I  was  attracted  to  you  because 
I  heard  some  story  about  snake-charming  in  connection  with 


128  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.         [cnAP.  it. 

yoiu'  name.  Can  you  rid  me  of  tliese  ?"  "They  are/'  I 
replied,  "tlioii  suffering  one,  lusts  wliicli  were  bred  in  tliy 
own  body,  through  its  habits  while  it  lived  on  Earth.'' 
"  Ah,"  was  the  reply,  "  I  know  this.  Pity  me  ;  you  love  our 
race."  "  Yes,"  I  responded,  "  I  love  Him  who,  in  the  form 
of  one  of  your  race, .was  incarnate.  From  Him  I  drink  love, 
and  it  fills  me  with  pity  for  the  wretched."  She  drew  a  little 
nearer,  and,  with  all  her  might  smote  me  upon  the  left  cheek, 
hissing  and  endeavouring  to  spit  upon  mc  when  I  spoke  of 
Christ. 

238.  I  blessed  her  in  His  name,  whereat  she  turned  and 
said,  "Do  curse  me,  hate  me !  0  God,  I  hate  myself;"  then, 
in  her  French  phrase,  "  I  horror  at  myself.  The  men  I  en- 
tertained were  atheists.     You  do  not  knoAV  my  history ;  no 

man  knows  it,  or  why  or  what " "  One  knows,"  was  given 

me  to  respond,  "  Behold  the  mighty  power  of  His  name  !  He 
hath  said  to  His  servants  '  they  shall  take  up  serpents.'  See  I 
take  this  up."  Then  in  spirit  I  put  forth  my  right  hand,  and 
grasped  the  flaming,  writhing  creature,  and  there  appeared  at 
my  right  a  fire  of  coals,  and  I  cast  it  therein,  saying  as  I  did 
so,  "  In  the  Lord's  name."  "  You  are  a  Hebrew,"  was  her 
astonished  reply,  "  and  our  fathers  had  such  gifts."  Then 
she  drew  a  little  nearer,  whispering,  "  I  did  act  superbly  !  I 
did  live  infamously  !  I  did  die  horribly  !  I  did  wake  in 
infamy ;  and  here  is  a  hell !  I  have  gone  barefoot  over  a  crust 
of  fire  to  meet  you,  bearing  these  ten  serpents  at  my  back ; 
and  my  madness  is  in  me  to  return." 

239.  Then  words  were  given  me,  and  I  cried  to  God,  and 
said,  "  Jesus  Christ,  who  didst  cast  seven  de^dls  out  of  Mag- 
dalene, if  this  woman  hath  in  her  the  least  quickened  germ 
into  which  Thou  canst  descend,  may  she  become  from  this 
time  divested  of  the  serpents  who  absorb  her  life."  At  this 
moment  I  heard  a  horrible  scream,  and  winding  a  long,  sinewy 
arm  around  the  woman,  while  his  countenance  blazed  with 
copper  coloured  flame,  stood  a  bronzed  man,  holding  her  and 
crying,  "  Forbear."  I  answered,  "  Sister,  if  it  be  the  Lord's 
will  to  give  thee  strength,  put  forth  thy  hand."  Instantly, 
slowly  as  the  hand  of  a  corpse  might  rise,  it  came  forward 
and  touched  a  Hand  that  came  forth  through  me  ;  for,  breath- 


SEC.  238—241.]  THE   APOCALYFSJE.  129 

ing  in  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  God's  miglity  spirit  descended  in  that 
form,  as  a  hand,  until  it  touclied  the  woman.  Thereupon 
stood  at  my  right  hand  a  beauteous,  majestic  virgin,  an  angel 
of  the  Heavens,  with  a  crown  of  twelve  stars  upon  her  head, 
and  white  raiment  flowing  to  the  feet.  The  long  night  and 
trance  broke,  and  the  woman  passionately  threw  herself  for- 
ward, weeping,  and  crying  aloud,  "  Not  the  carpenter's  son, 
but  the  God.  Jesus,  have  mercy  !  Jesus,  have  mercy  !"  The 
demon  was  then  cast  down  into  Hell,  but  she  was  taken  into 
a  society  of  repentant  women,  where  there  is  instruction, 
discipline,  purification,  and  preparation  for  the  skies. 


240.  The  spiritual-natural  man  passes  through  ten  states 
of  arduous  endeavours,  into  ten  others  of  representative  glory. 
These  are  as  follows.  In  the  first  state  he  acquires  the  hear- 
ing of  the  ear  in  the  spiritual-natural  degree.  Kespiring, 
though  at  first  in  a  tacit  manner,  in  conjunction  with  a  society 
of  spiritual  angels,  he  is  trained  into  a  new  state  in  the  audi- 
tory organs,  by  means  of  which  to  discriminate,  as  to  the 
quality  or  spirit  of  sound  within  its  physical  vibrations.  Every 
man  speaks  from  a  secret  quality  of  love.  An  auriscope,  by 
means  of  which  to  determine  the  quality  of  love  from  which 
the  sound  is  uttered,  exists  in  first  principles,  through  every 
human  ear,  but  dormant  because  of  the  closed  conditions.  Our 
Lord  heard  the  very  affections  speak  through  soimds.  The 
dominant  love,  for  the  time,  keys  the  voice.  With  the  be- 
ginning of  the  new  respiration,  the  man  who  is  becoming 
spiritual-natural,  is  trained  through  the  ear  to  know  the 
language  of  the  affections.  ^^And  ye  shall  have  tribulation 
ten  days,''  signifies,  ten  states  of  struggling  endeavour  for 
the  acquisition  of  the  new  gifts,  of  which  this  is  the  first. 

241.  The  second  of  these  states  consists  in  the  development 
of  the  faculty,  by  means  of  which,  through  sound,  the  voices 
of  spirits,  angelic  or  infernal,  may  be  detected  in  the  breath- 
ings. When  internal  respiration  does  not  exist,  the  natural 
lungs  take  upon  themselves  a  modified  motion  from  the  pres- 
sure of  the  nerve-spirit.  But  this  again  is  dependent  on  the 
presence  of  spirits,  good  or  bad,  and  the  predominance  of  affec- 

I 


130  ARCANA    OF   CniilSTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

tions,  pure  or  impure.  In  the  low,  pleasant  breathing  of  the 
cradled  babe,  the  spiritutil-uatural  man  discovers  a  succession 
of  motions  modulated  by  celestial  angels.  Spiritual  angels 
are  discovered  at  a  later  period  as  present  in  a  second  modi- 
fication of  breathing;  and  through  the  same  process  angels 
of  the  Ultimate  Heaven  at  a  subsequent  date.  It  requires  a 
cessation  from  self  and  from  the  loves  of  self  in  the  breathing 
man^  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural,  for  the  training  of  this 
fine  gift.  By  it  as  the  faculty  becomes  cultured,  in  the  lungs 
even  of  the  closed  or  natural  person  is  found  a  criterion  of  all 
moral  states.  Painfully  through  pr^^ctice  he  learns  to  detect 
by  the  variations  in  the  breathings,  when  infernals  are  near, 
and  of  their  predominant  quality. 

242.  The  third  state  of  patient  education,  during  which  tribu- 
lation exists,  is  in  the  development  of  the  eye.  Aromal  sight 
comes  first.  This  is  a  perception  of  the  emanation  forms  of 
natural  objects.  It  reveals  within  the  imponderable  realms  of 
nature  an  unsuspected  universe.  A  winter  field  is  often  gay 
with  the  flowers  of  the  aromal  life.  In  December  days,  when 
the  landscape  seemingly  is  dead,  the  aromal  leaf,  which  pre- 
cedes the  natural,  displays  a  sparkling  green.  Above  the 
buried  bulbs,  which  to  the  natural  sight  do  not  indicate  their 
presence,  rise  essential  flowers,  exhibiting  an  aromal  beauty 
and  resplendence.  The  orchards  teem  with  fragrant  blossoms, 
or  display  their  yellow-crimson  aromal  fruit,  unaflected  by 
external  natural  changes  of  temperature.  The  aromal  birds,  in 
gay  and  variegated  myriads  pursue  their  sports,  or  make  the 
essence  of  the  atmosphere  all  vocal  with  tender  songs.  In  fact, 
within  and  about  and  above  that  plane  of  nature  which  the 
gross  external  sight  beholds,  a  creation  of  aromal  objects,  often 
surpassing  the  rarest  and  loveliest  of  visible  natural  things, 
displays  its  beauties. 

243.  But  here,  as  everywhere  throughout  the  domain  of  our 
unhappy  planet,  subversive  creations  are  visible.  Myriads  of 
magnetic  insects  that  sting,  of  parasites  that  infest,  of  foul 
larvEe  that  destroy,  may  be  discovered.  The  asp,  the  serpent, 
and  the  scorpion,  the  ravenous  beast  of  carnage  and  bird  of 
prey,  make  known  their  occult  presence.  This  realm  has  been 
withdrawn  from  natural  sight  for  providential  ends.     The  fine 


SEC.  242—245.]         THi:    AFOCALYPSi:.  131 

vision  of  tlie  man^  as  he  becomes  spiritual-natural,  enters  it, 
but  only  through  deep  moral  experiences,  which  try  and  call 
forth  the  utmost  energies  of  the  heart. 

244.  At  first  the  eye  lights  upon  a  confused  mass  of  glitter- 
ing objects.  Here  apply  the  laws  of  a  new  perspective.  The 
natural  souls  of  colours  are  represented  in  the  aromal  world. 
In  secluded,  untrodden  paths,  where  the  miasm  of  the  ulcered 
moral  state  of  man  is  least  potent,  the  charmed  wanderer  be- 
holds the  habitation  of  the  fay, — an  airy  landscape  that  rises 
or  that  falls,  now  crystallescent  in  its  bases  upon  the  green 
grass,  now  extending  in  airy  campaign  above,  and  following 
the  undulations  of  the  forest  trees.  How  wonderful  the  sio-ht ! 
The  wood  pigeon  is  seen  in  her  secluded  haunt;  a  thousand 
birds  of  summer,  in  their  green  retreat,  to  whom  the  fay  is  a 
presiding  genius;  and  now,  with  some  aromal  nepenthe,  he 
pours  the  fecundating  principle  into  the  pollen  of  flowers, 
or  drives  his  airy  flocks,  invisible  to  sight,  through  pastures 
where  the  cattle  feed.  He  glides  through  the  aromal  body  of 
the  oak  or  plane ;  perhaps  displays  his  treasures.  The  hollow 
recesses  in  the  aromas  of  the  wood  are  his  castle,  and  his 
gay  wife  pursues  the  tasks  of  the  household,  and  his  merry 
children  sport  in  gleeful  security. 

245.  On  the  wild  moorland,  or  where  the  bare  rock  displays 
its  aged  crest,  concealed  from  sight  within  the  depths  of  its 
aromal  element,  a  darker  but  heart-luminous  brotherhood  are 
seen.  What  charm  in  their  magnetic  glance  !  what  spirit  and 
fire  and  fervour !  Thus,  pass  where  we  will,  as  the  eye  is 
opened  to  this  aromal  world,  man  walks  insphered  in  wonders 
of  which  a  veiled  suggestion  only  is  afforded  here.  In  places 
where  good  men,  intromitted  into  the  aromal  world,  or,  kindred 
to  it  by  innocence  of  mind  and  heart,  have  lived  and  died, 
though  man  has  forgotten  their  name,  the  spot  is  indicated  by 
aromal  gardens.  Here,  also,  dark  inversions  come  to  light. 
The  blood  plant  grows  where  mui'ders  have  been  committed, 
with  piercing  daggers  from  its  red,  spiny  hand ;  an  incarnation 
in  fine  matter  from  the  seeds  of  hate  that  sprouted  in  the 
human  breast.  Where  suicides  have  met  their  fate,  are  ice  cold, 
venomous  fungi,  whose  breath  suggests  abandonment  of  God. 
Thus  crimes  everywhere  reveal  their  presence^  growing  from 

I  2 


132  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ii. 

tlie  seeds  generated  in  the  passion  soil  of  fallen  man.  The 
world's  wonderful  dramatist  has  said, — 

"  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  thorn  ; 
The  good  is  oft  iiitcrrt'd  with  their  bones." 

The  very  bones  of  men,  when  good  is  buried  in  them,  are 
pregnant  with  a  latent  seed.  It  is  recorded  in  Holy  Writ, 
that  once  a  buried  man  woke  from  the  death  swoon  when  his 
cold  body  touched  the  bones  of  an  ancient  prophet.  From  the 
unsuspected  soil  holy  ashes  revealed  their  presence.  The  aromal 
germs  which  were  deposited  within  them  have  sprung  broad- 
cast and  beautiful.  So,  in  France,  an  aromal  flower  lives  that 
grew  from  the  dust  of  Joan  of  Arc.  The  Wickliff  blossom,  a 
disc  of  purple  and  gold,  springs  glorious  in  the  aromal  air  of 
England.  The  martyrs  of  the  Cevennes  and  the  Alps  have 
given  birth  from  their  dust  to  an  airy  flora.  Italy  bears  a 
queenly  plant  that  commemorates  the  virtues  of  Savonarola. 
Imperishable  Nature  holds  the  dust  of  the  saints  in  honour, 
and  represents,  through  them,  in  ever- springing  life,  her  wor- 
ship of  Him  they  worshipped,  her  sympathy  with  the  great 
cause  they  served. 

246.  But  the  foul  and  odious  refuse,  tainted  with  the  vices 
of  the  souls  that  rotted  and  festered  within  it,  ere  it  can  be 
purified  and  blend  again  with  the  universal  element,  also  gives 
forth  its  seed.  Sprouting  through  the  monumental  marble, 
ripe  and  rank  in  thick,  polluted  air,  the  passion  seeds,  buried 
in  the  hearts  of  impious  voluptuaries  and  libertines  belies  the 
epitaph ;  and  Nature  writes,  in  sweltering  and  fetid  growths, 
her  contradiction  of  the  blazoned  lie.  These  must  continue  to 
grow,  until  earth  is  purified  in  the  new  creation. 

247.  Passing  through  the  province  of  aromal  sight,  the 
fourth  trial  of  education,  which  awaits  the  man  who  is  becom- 
ing spiritual-natural,  is  the  development  of  the  organ  of  vision 
into  the  nerve-spirit.  It  is  by  means  of  the  nerve-spirit 
that  the  intercourse  between  the  immortal  man  and  his  natural 
body  is  carried  on.  The  nerve-spirit,  called  elsewhere  the 
natural  soul,  is  itself  organic  within  the  mineral  basis,  and 
subsists  as  a  living  entity  throughout  the  natural  form.  It  is 
the  first  home  of  the  passions  after  they  have  descended  from 
their  birth-place   in  the   spiritual  person.     The  delights  are 


SEC.  246—249.]         TRE   APOCALTFSE.  133 

stored  up,  wlietlier  tliey  be  pleasures  of  innocence,  or  frenzies 
of  impurity,  organ  by  organ  within  it.  The  nerve-spirit  is 
liable  to  diseases,  and  to  corruptions  of  its  essences ;  but 
especially  to  wastings  and  depletions,  from  two  causes ;  first, 
from  the  evil  wrought  upon  it  by  base  passions  within ;  and, 
second,  by  diabolical  sorceries  from  without,  from  wandering 
spirits  and  from  demons. 

248.  It  is  by  means  of  the  nerve-spirit  that  intercourse, 
on  orderly  earths  of  the  universe,  is  maintained,  with  the 
friendly  races  who  inhabit,  from  immemorial  time,  the  realms 
of  wonder  and  of  mystery  concealed  within  the  organic  crust 
and  the  mineral  formations  of  the  globes.  It  is  well  known 
that  two  substances,  and  indeed  many  more,  can  occupy 
different  degrees  of  space  within  one  structure.  The  solid 
crystal  is  traversed  by  electric  substance,  with  no  abatement  of 
its  motion  or  separation  of  its  elements.  Our  Lord  entered,  in 
all  the  substance  of  His  humanity,  through  closed  doors,  to 
stand  in  the  midst  of  His  wondering  disciples.  So  to  the 
heart  and  mind,  prepared  by  the  operations  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  to  enter  into  ineffable  mysteries,  it  excites  the  highest 
faculties  of  reason,  and  calls  forth  the  noblest  affections,  to 
behold  the  workings  of  the  Creative  Man  within  the  depths  of 
mundane  things. 

249.  First,  behold  the  People  of  the  Rock.  We  have  sur- 
prised this  ancient  of  the  mountains  at  the  door  of  his  rude 
dwelling-place,  through  the  degree  of  sight  pertaining  to  the 
reconstructed  nerve-spirit.  The  rude  primeval  mass,  in  which 
he  makes  his  home,  is  the  triumphal  arch  to  realms  of  magni- 
ficence, utterly  beyond  the  flights  of  the  most  stupendous 
intellect.  Emerging  from  the  grey,  dark  mist,  in  which  he 
sits,  and  which  itself  might  be  mistaken  for  a  stone,  a  being 
meets  us,  whose  vest  is  all  ablaze  with  jewels,  and  whose  regal 
surcoat  shines  with  linked  ornaments  of  massy  gold.  In  his 
origin  he  is  a  fay  of  the  Celestial  Heaven,  but  ultimated  into 
space  and  nature  through  an  insemination  into  that  living 
element  which  chemical  art  can  never  fathom ;  the  source  of 
crystallization,  the  ground  and  base  of  the  universal  mineral, 
the  blood  of  fire.  Our  welcome  is  pronounced  in  tones  of  a 
dialect,  terse,   compact,  and  rounded  as  mountain  boulders. 


131-  ARCANA    OF   CHBISTIANITY.        [chap.  ir. 

He  is  evidently  one  whose  race  have  long  withdrawn  them- 
selves from  contact  with  polluted  man.  He  is  called,  "  trold/^ 
and  ''  dwarf,"  and  "  guomCj"  and  many  an  uncouth  name 
besides,  in  the  rude  Northland  traditions,  and  is  supposed  to 
be  invested  with  a  baleful  power.  We  shall  see.  A  smoke 
rises  through  the  blue  rock.  He  sees  it  and  disappears.  The 
trold  has  gone  to  call  his  brothers. 

250.  We  slide  from  the  natural  form,  and  with  a  pure  body 
of  nerve-spirit,  subtle  and  impalpable  as  flame,  are  lost  to 
natural  sight  within  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  With  new  ears 
wc  listen  to  the  music  of  crystallization,  to  the  low  and  joyous 
laugh,  the  first  melody  of  the  primal  element ;  to  the  song  of 
the  stone.  Him  whom  wc  call  the  "  trold,"  seems  now  a  man 
in  proportions  like  our  own.  He  throws  his  arms  around  our 
neck,  and  presses  us  to  his  breast,  Ynth.  ''  Welcome  to  the 
stone  house  of  All  Father."  This  is  basalt  around  us  and 
hidden  deep.  He  opens  doors  that  lead  beyond  this  vestibule. 
With  the  swiftness  of  the  electric  arrow  we  are  conducted 
through  unknown  lambent  stratifications.  What  vigour  is  in 
them,  what  delight  !  The  electric  senses  quiver.  The  heart 
of  the  nerve-body  throbs  to  pulses  of  a  rich  reviving  youth. 
Deeper  still ;  and  now  we  emerge  into  a  vast  luminous  region, 
where  the  soil  is  soft  to  the  feet  and  garmented  with  flowers 
and  grasses  that  are  themselves  the  essences  of  the  fire.  What 
joy  is  here  beneath  the  vest  of  the  bounteous  teeming  Earth- 
Mother  !  This  is  near  her  heart.  The  vast  and  stalactital 
firmament  is  glorious,  and  illuminated  by  the  nerve-spirit  of 
the  sun.  When  he  retires  from  sight  we  shall  behold  the 
nerve-spirits  of  the  stars,  an  ordered  train. 

251.  A  slow  stream  meanders.  We  dip  the  hands  of  the 
nerve-body  in  the  cool  tide,  and  lift  them  dripping ;  but  as  the 
drops  are  scattered  from  the  finger  ends,  they  are  agate 
pebbles,  fire  and  stone,  stone  that  fashions  itself  from  fire ; 
stone  that  is  itself  fire ;  fire  and  stone  everyAvhere.  The 
sparkling,  striated,  impearled  fishes,  how  they  dance  and 
sport,  with  what  lithe  motion  within  the  pools  !  The  trold 
draws  one  out ;  and  see  !  this  is  a  stone  also.  Were  his  fire- 
life  withdrawn,  the  terrestrial -natural  world  would  declare 
him  to  be  the  fossil  form  of  one  of  an  extinct  race,  sporting 


SEC.  250—254.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  135 

once  in  water^  not  in  fire.  Eock-built  is  all  this  soil.  Here 
are  fir-trees,  gay  brancliing  ferns  also,  rainbow-tinged,  a  scarf 
of  many  colours.  And  fire  animals  ;  they,  too,  were  the  blood 
of  fire  which  circulates  through  their  systems  abstracted,  and 
were  they  left  to  chill  and  darken  for  ages,  wise  men  would 
say,  exhuming  them,  ^'^  These  once  were  flesh  and  blood." 
How  still  it  is  !  A  voice  !  The  trold  is  speaking  to  his 
brothers.  They  draw  nigh.  What  bodies ;  subtle,  fleet,  agile, 
symmetrical  !  It  is  all  stone,  stone  and  fire.  Were  they 
found,  ages  hence,  through  some  vast  upheaval,  learned  trea- 
tises would  tell  of  men  who  lived  during  the  incalculable 
cycles  of  pre-Adamic  time.  What  peach  bloom  in  the  face  ! 
What  crimson  velvet  upon  the  lip  !  what  flowing  locks  !  all 
fire  ;  stone  and  fire  ! 

252.  The  fifth  trial  of  faith  and  endurance,  to  which  the 
man  is  subjected  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural,  consists 
in  the  gradual  evolution  of  expanse-sight.  Expanse-sight 
involves  a  new  arrangement  of  the  optical  organ  in  its  finest 
natural  degree.  By  it,  those  in  whom  the  faculty  is  prepared, 
perceive  at  one  glance  solids  and  their  contents,  spaces  and 
their  inhabitants,  heights,  lengths,  breadths,  distances,  on  a 
scale  of  giant  perspective  ;  world-souls  also  and  the  gigantic  . 
colossi  which  are  the  souls  of  universes. 

253.  After  this,  in  the  sixth  place,  comes  another  trial  and 
strengthening  for  the  man  who  is  becoming  spiritual-natural ; 
the  education  of  the  touch,  to  become  radiative,  and  to  feel, 
by  means  of  projections  through  the  organs,  the  dynamic 
qualities  of  distant  objects.  The  eye,  the  hands  put  forth 
feelers  of  sensation,  which  traverse  space  with  electrical  swift- 
ness, and  touch  the  objects  which  they  seek  at  any  point  of 
distance.  A  man  who  is  spiritual-natural  to  whom  this  gift  is 
given,  may  sit  in  a  chamber  in  Europe,  and  touch,  by  means 
of  the  emanations  through  the  hand,  the  eye,  the  brain,  and 
the  body  of  a  cherished  intimate  in  Asia  or  America,  and 
absorb  redundant,  or  impart  deficient  qualities.  Nevertheless, 
this  requires  deep  heart-trials,  total  abandonment  of  self,  and 
living  for  others  in  the  divine  service. 

254.  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  such  gifts  as  these 
that  the  demons  of  the  Spiritual  Hell,  at  the  present  time,  put 


136  ABGANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

fortli  tlieir  utmost  power.  The  time  is  not  far  distant  wtien 
a  subtle,  demoniacal  sphere  from  that  Hell  will  rise  and  sur- 
charge the  Earth's  atmosphere.  Felt  as  delicious  stimulation 
in  the  minds  of  evil  men,  it  will  develop  utter  impiety.  The 
wave  rising  in  America  will  complete  the  circuit  of  the  globe, 
everywhere  producing  similar  results.  Inordinate  greeds,  de- 
veloped through  its  fierce  fervours,  will  prompt  the  sagacious 
to  treat  with  utter  contempt  the  rights  of  the  lowly ;  and  at 
the  same  time,  the  huge  engines  of  civilization,  with  their 
immense  wcalth-pi-oducing  faculties,  monopolized  in  the  ser- 
vice of  those  already  powerful,  will  be  made  use  of,  if  possible, 
to  grind  the  poor  as  never  before.  Questions  of  monarchy  or 
republicanism,  of  prelacy  or  papacy  or  neology,  will  lose  in- 
terest, and  the  great  issue  loom  up  :  Shall  the  huge  proprietors 
in  every  land  combine  in  a  universal  alliance,  subjecting  to 
their  combined  power  the  labour  of  the  world  ? 

255.  This  will  be  put  forth  as  a  project  for  the  salvation  of 
society,  and  with  an  abundance  of  surface-argument  in  its 
behalf.  It  will  be  felt  that  there  is  one  great  party  in  every 
civilized  country,  however  divided  by  traditional  and  specula- 
tive theories ;  the  party  of  sagacious  worldly  men  to  whom  the 
one  question  is,  the  cementation  of  power  by  intermarriage, 
and  by  the  substitution  of  combined  for  competitive  enter- 
prise. It  will  treat  the  questions  of  cooly  labour,  of  the  African 
slave  trade,  of  negro  serfdom  in  general,  and  of  the  wellbeing 
of  the  multitudes  in  every  land,  if  possible,  from  a  simulta- 
neous agreement,  that  its  interests  shall  alone  determine  the 
world's  policy.  It  will  attempt  to  hold  out  such  inducements 
to  potentates  as  shall  prevent  wars,  and  cheapen  the  social 
cost  of  governments.  It  will, — in  its  essence  intensely  irre- 
ligious,— regard  man  as  a  rational  animal,  with  whom  a 
ripened  self-interest  is  the  one  true  and  living  God.  By  the 
combinations  of  the  huge  capitalists  of  Christendom  one  with 
another,  it  Avill  preside,  so  far  as  successful,  in  all  cabinets.  The 
age  of  mammon  will  then  develop  more  fully  its  inner  life. 

256.  Against  this  will  fight  the  spiritual-natural  man,  in 
his  seventh  state  of  education,  rightly  named  a  "  trial,'' 
but  not  by  worldly  weapons.  He  will  go  into  his  chamber, 
and  gather  to  himself  the  Divine  breath.     He  will  penetrate 


SEC.  255—257.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  137 

into  the  bodily  structures  of  the  powerful  anarchs  who  seek  to 
inaugurate  this  new  inversion.  He  will  be  to  them  an  evil 
angel,  breathing  against  them ;  and  setting  the  current  of  the 
Divine  breath,  descending  into  the  world  through  his  natural 
breathing  organs,  as  a  flaming  fire  day  and  night,  against  such 
as  he  is  inspired  of  God  to  meet.  When  the  eye  and  hand 
have  been  trained  in  the  projection  of  their  elements,  to 
friends  afar,  as  stated  in  the  number  previous,  the  direction 
of  the  breath  is  the  next  formidable  endeavour.  Whatever 
angelic  society  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven  breathes  in  conjunction 
with  the  spiritual-natural  man,  will  empower  him  with  its 
unity,  absolutely  controlled  by  the  Divine  Sphit.  The  breath 
of  God  will  thus  flow  through  him  to  whatever  ends  it  will. 

257.  The  spiritual-natural  man  will  now  be  advanced  into 
his  eighth  state  of  arduous  endeavour  and  heroic  burden 
bearing.  Having  penetrated  into  the  subterranean  earth,  into 
the  seminal  essences  of  stone,  into  the  society  of  the  flame 
and  stone  embodied  fays,  who  are  its  impersonal  men ;  he  will 
draw  them  forth,  invisibly,  through  their  entrance  into  his 
nerve-spirit  as  subsidiary  allies  to  the  will.  Napoleon  had  no 
such  will  as  the  least  spiritual-natural  man,  refreshed  in  the 
nerve-spirit,  through  the  providential  conjunction  of  it  with 
one  of  these.  He  will  laugh  at  the  combinations  by  means  of 
which  evil  men  and  sorcerers  from  pandemonium  seek  to 
arrest  his  progress  in  the  divine  path  given  him  to  tread.  In 
the  depth  of  secrecy,  in  which  he  veils  such  processes  within 
him  as  God  would  keep  hidden,  men  will  find  him  as  the 
stone,  which  speaks  not.  But  His  name  to  those  who  love 
the  Lord  will  be  the  synonym  of  gentleness.  Then  he  will 
be  Petrine ;  that  is,  a  rock.  Many  years  of  trial,  much  open 
breathing,  long  wi-estlings  against  infernals,  great  patient 
obediences  must  precede.  I  am  not  permitted  to  write  any- 
thing concerning  how,  and  in  what  manner,  the  relation 
between  the  spiritual-natural  man  and  this  friendly  race  will 
proceed.  At  present  I  would  advise  no  man,  if  he  values 
physical  life,  to  attempt  to  invoke  any  such.  The  unprepared, 
should  the  Lord  allow  one  of  this  race  to  appear  in  answer  to 
a  call,  would  find  him,  by  the  stern,  inexorable  necessity  of  his 
organic  life,  a  destroyer;  though  as  a  fay,  utterly  without 


138  ARCANA    OF   CURISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

evil.  Many  centuries  elapse,  rolling  their  slow  round,  before 
tlie  workers  in  tliis  fire  and  stone  kingdom  finish  their  task 
and  rise  to  bo  impersonal  existences  in  Heaven.  To  breathe 
with  them  is  to  inhale  longevity.  They  are  potent  against  foes 
that  infest  the  nerve-spirit ;  hence  their  important  use  in  the 
new  creation. 

258.  To  work  slowly,  silently,  as  the  sure-footed  dawn, 
bringing  illumination  to  mankind,  the  spiritual-natural  man 
now  devotes  his  gathered  energies;  attaining  to  a  ninth 
introductory  state,  in  which  he  baffles  magic.  Here  I  am  not 
permitted  to  delineate  particulars. 

259.  When  the  tenth  trial  comes,  he  finds  himself  prepared 
and  waiting.  He  lives  consciously  with  the  fay-souls,  both 
of  the  aerial,  terrestrial,  and  inner  terrestrial  expanse.  He 
breathes  in  conspiration  with  the  angels  of  the  Spiritual 
Heaven,  but  also  in  conjunction  with  those  of  the  Celestial 
and  the  Ultimate.  He  is  disconnected  from  the  inversive 
movement  which  through  the  Hells  invades  mankind.  No 
flatteries  can  beguile  him;  no  allurements  dazzle  him;  no 
solicitations  move  him ;  no  terrors  appal  him.  His  motto  is, 
"  Christ  and  the  Eight  V  and,  led  by  Christ,  he  executes  the 
right  as  the  Holy  Ghost  works  through  him.  He  is  religious 
without  ostentation,  devout  with  secrecy,  a  niggard  in  nothing, 
a  trafficker  in  no  man's  secrets,  a  gatherer  without  parsi- 
mony, a  giver  without  prodigality ;  doing  all  things  wisely  and 
well.  None  know  his  deep  secrets,  but  the  races  to  whom 
they  belong;  for  he  lives  with  many  kinds,  and  grows  power- 
ful through  orderly  association.  To  the  fay,  he  is  as  one  of 
them;  a  brother  beloved.  To  the  man  of  earth,  a  just,  im- 
passive instrument ;  working  God's  will  impartially ;  not  to 
be  turned  aside ;  a  terror  to  evil  doers.  He  traverses  land  and 
sea,  executing  the  Divine  behest,  punctual  to  the  appointments 
of  Providence  as  the  evening  or  the  morning  star.  Through 
the  interpervasion  of  the  world-soul  from  the  hell  of  the  lost 
orb,  he  learns  to  combat  its  flame,  then  to  make  it  innoxious. 
After  this  is  reached,  his  "  ten  days  "  are  said  to  be  fulfilled. 

2G0.  ''  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death.''  "When  the  fay  of  the 
stone  and  flame  comes  to  the  man  who  is  becoming  spiritual- 
natural,  he  eats,  as  food,  the  basis  of  his  bones^  commencing 


SEC.  258—262.]         TRE    APOCALYPSE.  I.39 

witli  tlie  very  roots  of  tlie  osseous  system ;  and  by-and-by 
tbe  trunk  of  the  life  falls ;  tlie  brancliy  honours  of  the  brain 
are  divested  of  their  foliage.  The  man  .tree^  Idrasgil^  whose 
roots  are  in  Hela  or  the  subterranean  earth  of  fire^  whose 
trunk  is  in  the  animal^  vegetable^  and  mineral  kingdoms  of  the 
earth,  whose  fruit  is  passion  from  the  blood  of  instinct,  whose 
branches  wave  fruit-laden  in  the  air-deep  and  sky-deep  of  the 
world's  breath,  falls  prostrate.  The  old  man  being  no  more ; 
original  sin  is  thus  destroyed  in  the  body.  Should  it  be  in 
the  Divine  appointment,  the  re-creation  keeps  place  with  the 
destruction.  Nevertheless,  unless  the  man  who  is  becoming 
spiritual-natural,  is  faithful  until  the  completion  of  the  tree's 
fall,  here  called  "  death,"  he  cannot  attain  to  that  which  is 
beyond,  and  which  is  entitled  the  crown  of  life. 

261.  The  crown  of  saintship  is  not  alone  a  spiritual,  but  also 
a  terrestrial  possibility.  It  involves,  as  the  student  of  this 
statement  has  seen,  a  long  series  of  organic  transformations. 
Of  the  old  man  nothing  remains ;  the  discreted  germs  of  being, 
fi'om  All  Father,  which  were  stored  up  in  the  divinely  given 
constitution,  excepted  alone.  There  are  "  fathers  of  the  flesh, ""^ 
wrote  St.  Paul,  "  and  we  gave  them  reverence  :  shall  we  not 
much  rather  be  in  subjection  to  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  live?'' 
Yea,  verily.  The  veil  of  partition,  in  the  rupture  of  that  which 
closed  the  spiritual  lungs  from,  the  natural,  is  taken  away ; 
and,  in  the  descent  of  the  Divine  breath,  with  its  new  vibra- 
tions, into  the  body  of  the  form,  Christ  makes  of  the  spiritual 
and  the  natural  organizations  one  new  man,  so  making  peace. 
It  is  peace.  Who  can  make  hurt  ?  Not  hell ;  that  is  con- 
quered. Not  the  inversions  of  the  world ;  they  bend  before 
its  sway  ?  Heaven  is  realized  below.  This  is  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the  man  of  the  spiritual-natural 
degree,  called  the  church  of  Smyrna,  in  his  collective  form. 

Chap,  ii,  11. — "He    that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear   what 
THE    Spirit    saith    unto   the   churches;  He  that  over- 

COMETH    shall    NOT    BE    HURT    OP    THE    SECOND    DEATH.'' 

262.  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,"  signifies,  the  new  man  who  is 
made  spiritual-natural.  "  Let  him  hear,"  signifies,  openness 
through   the   auditory  nerve  to  the  Celestial,   Spiritual  and 


140  ARCANA    OF   CnRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

Ultimate  Heaven,  to  the  world-souls,  to  liarmonic  men  of 
unfallen  orbs,  to  the  fay- souls  and  the  life  movement  of  the 
atomic  men  ;  the  diyino  harmony  in  its  new  form,  being  com- 
municated through  them,  and  his  own  being  conspiring  and 
respiring  therewith.  "  Unto  the  churches/^  signifies,  his 
ability  to  receive  and  communicate  the  inner  spiritual  senses 
of  the  Word;  and  in  them,  varied  knowledges,  kindred  to 
sciences  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven,  following  in  their  ultima- 
tions ;  but  this  ability  is  of  the  Lord  alone,  and  is  dependent 
upon  the  modulations  of  the  breath. 

2G3.  "  He  that  overcometh,"  signifies,  the  state  of  the 
spiritual-natural  man,  after  the  ultimate  work  treated  of 
before,  when  the  old  life-tree  has  fallen.  "  Shall  not  be  hurt 
of  the  second  death,^'  signifies,  that  he  shall  be  one  of  those 
to  whom  is  given,  through  the  involution  of  the  spirits  of  the 
primates  of  the  body,  into  the  spiritual  body  proper,  when 
and  after  the  crisis  shall  have  taken  place,  spoken  of  in  A.  of 
C.  1, 1.  713,  714,  to  rise  full  and  perfect,  as  an  harmonic  man  to 
the  Heaven  of  spiritual  angels.  It  also  signifies,  prior  to  that 
period,  a  partial  investiture  of  the  man  with  his  resurrection 
body  through  the  ascension  of  the  fay-spirits  with  whom  he  is 
conjoined.  These  cease  to  die  as  to  their  ultimates,  through 
conjunction  with  members  of  the  human  family  in  w^hom  in- 
ternal respiration  is  established,  after  a  certain  preparation 
has  taken  place.  They  complete  their  harmonic  cycle,  involve 
their  atomic  spirits  in  the  general  body  of  their  spiritual  form, 
and  rise  to  become  fay-angels.  This  is  in  the  new  creation, 
and  can  only  take  place  in  the  triumph  of  the  new  respiration ; 
but  of  this  more  elsewhere. 

Chap.  ii.  12. — "And  to  the  angel  op  the  church  in  Pergamos 
WRITE ;  These  things  saith  He  which   hath  the  sharp 
SWORD  with  two  edges.''' 
264.  Radiative  solar  men  are  spoken  of  in  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  516, 
and  are  inhabitants  of  the  suns  of  space.     These  inherit  into 
the   composite   genius  and  separate   perfection  of  the  varied 
peoples  of  their  kind.     Such  men,  with  a  modification  adapt- 
ing them  to  planetary  life,  are  spoken  of  here.     "  Unto  the 
angel,''  signifies,  radiative,  terrestrial  men,   in  harmony  with 


SEC.  263—267.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  141 

radiative  solar  men  who  have  become  angels  in  the  Ultimate 
Heaven,  as  a  distinct  class,  to  be  organized  in  the  New  Jeru- 
salem.    It  is  needful  to  treat  of  them  at  this  point. 

265.  The  radiative  man  of  the  new  creation,  will  be  fivefold, 
and  open,  consciously,  when  internal  respiration  is  copiously 
advanced,  to  the  fivefold  series  of  worlds  involved  in  the 
Ultimate  Heaven.  He  will  dwell  apart,  as  distinct  from  his 
kind  in  many  things,  as  if  he  were  the  inhabitant  of  some 
other  orb.  The  Celestial  and  Spiritual  Heavens  will  respire 
in  conjunction  with  his  breaths,  but  inflowing  through  a  pe- 
culiar process  and  embodying  themselves  in  the  breaths  of 
his  own  peculiar  Heaven,  which  is  Ultimate.  His  nature  will 
represent  the  embodiment  of  truth  in  love.  He  will  crown 
the  great  orb  harmonies  of  future  time,  and  reign  as  the 
pivotal  representative  of  heavenly  order  in  the  mundane 
sphere.  Through  the  nerve-spirit,  he  will  be  in  direct  and 
universal  communication  with  all  to  whom  he  ministers,  sitting 
in  the  centre  of  the  planet^s  complex  harmonies.  He  will  be 
the  head  of  industrial  armies,  fountain  of  social  honour,  dis- 
penser of  titles  and  dignities,  universal  monarch,  whether 
called  by  a  kingly  or  republican  appellation ;  ruling  by  fitness 
and  breathing  in  the  composite  order  from  the  Lord. 

266.  By  breathing  in  the  composite  order,  implies,  a  dis- 
tribution of  the  breaths  from  the  Lord  in  series  and  degrees. 
The  Lord  will  breathe  a  breath  in  its  varied  successions, 
through  the  lungs  of  the  radiative  man  thus  made  pivotal, 
which  shall  felicitously  conspire  with  the  separate  or  simple 
breaths  of  all  to  whom  he  ministers.  It  is  by  this  process  that 
kingship  is  established  and  made  known. 

267.  When  the  true  king  is  found,  he  commences  to  respire 
in  such  preliminary  states  as  shall  best  serve  for  the  full 
evolution  of  his  powers.  Knowing  in  himself  experimentally 
the  new  emotions  of  the  atomic  men,  the  blessed  and  beautiful 
societies  of  the  fay-souls,  and  the  deep  secrets  of  their  bretlu-en 
of  the  stone  and  fire,  he  sits  in  the  ear  of  the  world-soul  and 
hears  the  deep  keyed  utterance  and  diapason  in  which  the 
world-souls  of  the  system  commune  with  her.  He  goes  be- 
yond the  inner  belt  of  the  flame-crystals  of  the  globe,  to 
nourish  vast  powers  of  vitality  within  his  system  from  her 


142  ABCANA    OF   CIIItlSTIANITT.        [chap.  ii. 

fecundating  essence.  Tlirougli  octaves  on  octaves  of  unfallen 
men,  lie  wins  his  way  at  last  to  council-cliambers,  where  sit 
vast,  many-structured  minds,  the  monarclis  of  the  worlds,  the 
radiative  men  of  suns  and  planets.  He  breathes  in  responsive 
motions  to  these  huge  respirations  of  power.  In  his  internal 
heavenly  experience,  radiative  solar  angels  are  made,  in  the 
Word,  media  of  education.  When  not  otherwise  employed,  he 
pursues  a  round  of  culture  in  all  practical  sciences.  Especially 
is  he  accomplished  in  the  industrial, mechanical, and  agricultural 
arts.  He  wins  the  deep  divine  secrets  ;  studies  the  distribution 
of  races  upon  the  surfaces  of  the  globe  ;  takes  cognisance  of 
archetypes  in  the  world  of  cause ;  and  of  the  law,  mode,  and 
manner  of  their  descent  and  terrestrial  distribution.  This  is 
his  preliminary  labour,  in  the  use-works  of  a  regal  position. 

268.  As  are  the  divine  breaths  in  him,  so  are  the  affections 
which  are  evolved  and  wrought  to  forms  of  consciousness. 
Hence,  without  necessary  communication,  he  knows  through 
a  divine  love,  and  enters,  through  a  divine  sympathy  into  so 
intimate  a  mental  rapport  ^vith  his  people  in  their' series,  that 
the  derangement  of  the  economy  of  a  group,  or  the  disturbed 
state  of  an  individual,  is  to  him  a  matter  of  personal  sensation. 
From  the  Lord  he  seeks  and  in  the  Lord  applies  the  remedy. 
For  certain  particulars  concerning  this  state,  see  A.  of  C.  1,  L 
514,  575.  The  disturbance  produced  in  the  human  harmonies 
of  our  orb,  through  sin,  caused  the  first  Adam  to  sink  from  his 
pivotal  radiative  place.  Our  Lord,  who  is  the  second  Adam, 
will  eventually  raise  up  such  as  He  will. 

269.  "  In  Pergamos,^'  signifies,  the  new  type  of  men,  pre- 
pared through  the  descent  of  the  Divine  breath,  who  principally 
respire  in  conjunction  with  the  Ultimate  Heaven,  through  the 
body  of  the  spiritual  lungs  continued  into  the  natural,  and  who 
are  called  ultimate  heavenly-natural.  "  Write,^^  signifies,  know- 
ledge by  induction,  made  known  to  such.  "  These  things,^^ 
signifies,  all  that  follows  here  concerning  the  ultimate  hea- 
venly-natural man.  "  Saith,"  signifies,  the  open  speaking 
voice  of  the  Lord,  descending  into  the  body  of  the  mind. 
"  He,^'  signifies.  Almighty  God,  as  He  is  made  known  in  His 
new  creation  through  the  universal  Ultimate  Heaven.  "  Which 
hath  the  sharp  sword  with  two  edges,^^  signifies,  Heaven  and 


SEC.  268—271.]         THE   AF0CALYP8E.  143 

Hell,  and  tlie  piercing  divine  flame  wliicli  penetrates  tlirougli 
the  spiritual  lungs,  and  thence  into  and  through  all  degrees  of 
the  natural ;  raising  the  good  to  heavenly  states  in  the  new 
creation,  and  cutting  off  the  -wicked. 

Chap.  11.  13. — '^I  know  thy  works,  and  where  thou  dwellest, 

EVEN  WHERE  SaTAn's  SEAT  IS  ;  AND  THOU  BOLDEST  FAST  MY 
NAME,  AND  HAST  NOT  DENIED  MY  FAITH,  EVEN  IN  THOSE 
DAYS  WHEREIN  AnTIPAS  WAS  MY  FAITHFUL  MARTYR,  WHO 
WAS    SLAIN   AMONG   YOU,    WHERE    SaTAN   DWELLETH." 

270.  "  I  know,"  signifies,  that  the  Lord,  as  before,  but 
specially  through  the  Celestial  Heaven,  diffuses  knowledges 
throughout  the  internal  degrees  of  the  minds  of  the  new  men 
of  this  type.  ''  Thy  works,"  signifies,  that  the  Lord  labours 
in  and  through  the  composite  pivotal  man  of  this  type.  "  And 
where  thou  dwellest,"  signifies,  that  he  is  enthroned  in  the 
midst  of  the  antagonisms  and  inversions  which  endeavour  still 
to  cover  the  earth  with  wretchedness,  oppression,  and  misery. 
"  Where  Satan's  seat  is,"  signifies,  that  the  ultimate  home  of 
the  demons  of  the  lost  orb  in  nature,  through  the  Hells  of  our 
own  orb,  is  present  in  the  disorders  of  the  terrestrial  portion 
of  mankind.  "  And  thou  boldest  fast  my  name,"  signifies,  that 
the  pivotal  monarch  here  spoken  of,  will  be  inmostly  united 
to  the  Lord,  and  will  represent  the  Divine  in  action.  "  And 
hast  not  denied  my  faith,"  signifies;  the  boundless  homage  and 
implicit  obedience  which  the  pivotal  monarch  will  pay  to  Him 
he  represents.  "  Even  in  those  days,"  signifies,  trials  which 
will  threaten  the  stability  of  the  new  and  heavenly  civilization 
established  in  the  world.  '^Antipas,"  signifies,  subordinate 
men  of  this  type,  slain  as  martyrs  to  the  Christian  religion,  in 
its  struggles  for  supremacy,  through  the  descent  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  against  the  evils  of  mankind.  A  few  particulars  must 
here  follow. 

271.  The  introduction  of  the  principles  of  the  new  creation, 
through  the  descent  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  bringing  man  into 
the  new  respiration,  will  introduce  this  grand  issue ;  implicit 
obedience  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  opposite.  When  it 
is  considered  that  the  Lord  requires  of  those  who  own  Him  in 
His  new  kingdom,  unwavering,  uncompromising  hostility  to 


lU  ABCAN-A    OF    CHIIISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

every  evil  principle,  that  His  kingdom  may  come,  and  His  will 
be  done  on  cartli  as  it  is  in  heaven,  it  becomes  apparent  that  a 
test  of  the  sincerity  of  the  Christian  profession  will  be  insti- 
tuted by  it.  Men  will  openly  revolt  and  protest  against  it,  as 
involving  the  most  infernal  despotism,  and  the  issue  will  be 
raised,  obedience  to  the  Lord,  received  through  internal  re- 
spiration, or  the  direct,  determined  resistance  of  the  whole  man 
to  the  innovations  of  the  ncAV  power.  The  presence  of  one 
whose  respiratories  are  opened,  and  who  declares  the  Word, 
with  the  Divine  Spirit  descending  through  him,  when  the  force 
of  the  power  is  made  apparent,  will  call  forth  violent  prejudice, 
especially  from  carnal  men  who  control  the  machinery  of  re- 
ligious sects.  Then  men  will  begin  to  blaspheme  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  to  incur  the  tremendous  consequences.  They  will 
declare,  that  through  the  new  respiration  the  demons  work ; 
and  that  God  requires  them  to  excite  the  hostility  of  Christians 
against  its  influence. 

2  72.  Poisons  will  be  resorted  to,  as  some  of  the  consequences, 
and  public  mobs ;  while  the  ferocious  classes  in  great  cities 
will  be  stirred  to  madness,  as  was  the  refase  of  the  population 
of  Jerusalem  by  the  Jewish  rulers  when  they  sought  to  crucify 
the  Lord.  There  are  spots  which  the  forecasting  eye  discovers 
when  glancing  over  the  map  of  the  world,  to  be  marked  by  an- 
ticipation, with  the  blood  of  internally  breathing  men.  It  will 
be  penal  after  a  period,  in  more  than  one  nation^  for  the  word 
"  internal  respiration  "  to  be  spoken  except  in  denunciatory 
terms.  The  knife  of  the  bravo  will  be  resorted  to  by  ecclesias- 
tics, where  it  is  practicable.  Tender  women  will  be  stripped 
and  scourged  in  public  with  the  knout.  The  rage  of  the  Greek 
church  will  be  infernal.  Against  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  arise  the  embattled  animosities  of  the  globe. 

273.  The  Catholic  and  Protestant,  those  nominally  Christian 
and  those  Pagan,  the  Mussulman,  the  Jew,  every  species  of 
religionist,  so  far  as  evil  prevails,  will  set  their  faces  to 
crush  out  with  fire  and  blood  the  invading  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 
It  will  be  the  last  and  fiercest  of  all  the  crises  which  have 
taken  place  upon  the  globe,  and  the  inversive  civilization  of 
the  planet  will  roll  up  its  billows  of  armed  men  to  overwhelm 
the  faithful.     It  will  be  discovered  that  the  fire  which  pro- 


SEC.  272—275.]  TRE   AP00ALTP8E.  I45 

ceeds  tkrougli  men  who  possess  tlie  new  respiration,  contains 
witMn  itself  a  subtle  principle  wliicli  kills  the  bodies  of  those 
who  resist,  after  a  certain  period  has  arrived.  Its  earliest 
symptoms  will  therefore  be  watched  through  a  vast  system  of 
espionage  from  land  to  land.  Fathers  will  betray  their  chil- 
dren and  children  their  parents.  The  most  intimate  friend- 
ships will  prove  no  safeguard,  nor  the  holy  obligations  of  the 
marriage  tie.  Masters  will  execute  their  serfs.  God^s  king- 
dom will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night  to  the  whole  earth. 

274,  ^'^Antipas/^  signifies,  the  man  of  the  ultimate  heavenly 
order  who  falls  a  victim  to  the  wrath  of  the  persecutor.  "  My 
faithful  martyr,^'  signifies,  the  Lord's  acceptance  of  the  faith- 
offering  of  those  who  are  put  to  death.  It  will  only  be  by 
the  Lord's  permission  that  any  of  the  men  of  the  new  age  will 
be  slain.  One  of  the  reasons  why  it  will  be  permitted  is  the 
following  : — Shed  blood  is  the  most  powerful  medium,  both  in 
the  natural  and  spiritual  realms.  When  a  martyr  begins  to 
pour  forth  his  life-currents,  having  been  previously  established 
in  internal  respiration,  the  disengaged  and  liberated  spirits  of 
the  primates  and  the  ultimate s  of  the  natural  form  go  forth 
through  the  wounds,  and  marshal  themselves  in  impalpable 
aerial  clouds,  and  after  a  while  precipitate  themselves  into  the 
human  bodies  that  are  pervious  to  their  influence,  preparing 
new  systems,  to  be  opened  for  the  divine  breath.  For  more 
on  this  point  see  elsewhere. 

275.  ''■"Who  was  slain,"  signifies,  that  while  murders  and 
assassinations  will  occur,  which  apparently  are  the  results  of 
the  brute  rage  of  the  ignorant,  the  secret  inciters  will  be 
philosophers,  priests,  public  functionaries,  and  inversive  men  of 
wealth,  who  hate  the  truth.  "Among  you,"  signifies,  the  en- 
circling of  the  person  of  each  who  becomes  a  martyi',  with  the 
universal  family  sphere  of  all  the  faithful.  The  Voice  of  the 
Spirit  will  say  to  those  who  survive,  "  Weep  not.  The  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah  hath  prevailed  in  him,  as  one  of  many, 
to  open  the  book  of  the  harmonic  future  of  the  planet  and  to 
loose  its  seven  seals."  He  will  die,  as  on  an  altar,  a  pure 
oblation,  a  lamb  without  blemish,  through  whose  wounds  the 
Quickening  Spirit  shall  proceed  to  establish  the  faith  in  many ; 
nor  Avill  he  grieve  tliat  he  is  one  reserved  for  so  glorious  a 


146  ABGANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

consummation  of  the  terrestrial  career.  Martyrdoms  will  in- 
spii'O  the  body  of  tho  faithful  and  be  followed  by  the  most 
glorious  descents  of  the  Holy  Ghost  throughout  the  breathing 
system.  Every  martyr  will  be  visible,  spiritually,  combatting 
against  the  earth's  enemies  until  the  j^urification  of  the  planet 
is  complete.  "Where  Satan  dwelleth/*  signifies,  that  in 
every  stronghold  of  the  inversive  principle  in  every  nation 
tinder  heaven,  men  will  be  raised  up  in  the  new  respiration 
to  testify  of  the  Lord  and  to  proclaim  the  judgment  of  the 
world. 

Chap.  ii.  14. — "  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  be- 
cause  THOU     hast    there    THEM    THAT    HOLD   THE    DOCTRINE 

OF  Balaam,  who  taught  Balac  to  cast  a  stumbling- 
block  BEFORE  THE  CHILDREN  OP  ISRAEL,  TO  EAT  THINGS 
SACRIFICED   UNTO    IDOLS,    AND   TO    COMMIT   FORNICATION.''' 

276.  "  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,"  signifies,  the 
inversions  to  which  the  new  man  of  the  ultimate  heavenly 
type  is  especially  liable.  These  are,  first,  to  hesitate  in  his 
earliest  stages  of  new  respiration,  between  God's  service  in- 
ternally made  known,  and  the  demands  of  ofispring.  The 
celestial-natural  man  sees  most  his  oifspring  in  the  children 
of  the  faithful,  and  loves  them  all  with  inefiable  tenderness. 
The  spiritual-natural  man  yearns  chiefly  toward  such  as  imbibe 
the  new  sciences  and  appropriate  readily  the  new  knowledges, 
nltimated  through  the  Spiritual  Heaven.  The  man  of  the 
ultimate  type  clings  more  closely  to  those  begotten  in  the 
flesh;  ties  of  parentage  in  the  natural  degree  being  strong 
and  durable.  "  Thou  hast  there  them,''  signifies,  that  some 
who  are  becoming  new  men  in  the  ultimate  heavenly-natural 
degree  will  undergo  fearful  temptations  on  account  of  ofi"- 
spring. 

277.  "  That  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,"  signifies,  the 
nature  of  these  temptations.  The  insane  love  of  family  prompts 
the  individual,  though  he  sees  on  every  side  its  ruinous  con- 
sequences, to  isolate  the  child  from  privations  necessary  for 
the  development  of  the  true  character,  and  to  interknit  its 
destinies  with  those  who  inherit  titles,  privileges,  and  colossal 
fortunes.     It  is  hard  for  those  whom  we  are  now  considering. 


SEC.  276—279.]         THE   APOCALYPSE..  147 


in  the  early  stages  of  tlieir  career,  to  consecrate  the  all  of 
eartlily  goods  to  tlie  Lord.  The  desire  will  be  to  bequeath 
possessions,  which  the  Lord  has  caused  to  fall  into  their  hands, 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  dignities  of  posterity.  Some,  it  is 
greatly  to  be  feared,  from  this  cause  will  lose  their  souls.  It 
is  to  be  understood  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Word  against 
bequeathing  estates  to  children.  The  prohibition  is  against 
bequeathing  them  in  opposition  to  the  felt  and  known  dictates 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  within  the  breast.  The  will  should  be  a 
sacred  document.  The  Lord  should  be  sought  to  inspire 
its  provisions.  It  should  be  signed  when  the  Lord  God 
declares  His  approval-  otherwise  the  offence  committed  is 
malfeasance  or  breach  of  trust,  heavily  punished  on  earthy  and 
not  less  so  in  the  divine  chancery. 

278.  By  "  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,^^  is  also  to  be  understood, 
the  subjugation  of  faith,  when  it  is  the  result  of  the  indwelling 
and  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  through  the  new  respiration, 
to  the  hostile  and  seductive  operations  of  the  fantasy  sphere, 
which  emanates  from  the  Hells.  Until  internal  respiration  is 
begun,  but  a  slight  and  partial  idea  can  be  received  of  the 
extent  to  which  seductive  influences  operate  upon  the  under- 
standing. The  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness.  ,  The  whirl- 
ing, bhnding  meteors  of  falsehood  obscm'e  the  true  stars  of 
the  celestial  firmament.  ''  Balac,^'  signifies,  unregenerate  men 
who  tempt  those  in  whom  the  new  order  is  beginning  to  be 
established,  with  plausible  reasons  from  the  external  world,  to 
substitute  self-derived  intelligence  for  divine  inspiration,  in 
the  acts  of  life.  ''  Balaam  who  taught  Balac,'''  signifies,  that 
nnregenerate  men  who  thus  tempt  are  agents  of  Satan,  thi'ough 
fantasies  projected  into  the  brain. 

279.  "To  cast  a  stumbling-block  (scandal)  before  the 
children  of  Israel,"  signifies,  that  the  new  man  will  receive 
(continual  and  most  insidious  overtures  from  the  men  of  the 
world,  the  effect  of  which  would  be,  if  accepted,  to  re-involve 
the  organism  in  the  inverted  movement  of  society  on  which 
the  Lord  sits  in  judgment.  "  To  eat  things,"  signifies,  the 
temptations  of  the  new  man  to  acquire  wealth,  place,  and  social 
secm'ity,  as  well  as  friends  and  alliances,  through  succumbing 
to  the  exactions  of  the  subversive  movement.     "  To  eat  things 

K  2 


148  ABC4NA    OF   CnBISTIANITT.        [chap.  ii. 

sacrificed  unto  idols/^  signifies,  tliat  tlio  goods  of  tlie  world, 
acquired  tlu'ougli  any  denial  of  the  Holy  Gliost,  in  the  manner 
specified,  have  already  been  pui'posed  to  be  made  use  of  as 
temptations  by  demons,  and  that  theii'  acquisition  is  in  reality 
a  sacrifice  to  demons.  "  To  commit  fornication,^'  signifies, 
that  those  who  thus  sacrifice  to  demons  in  the  acquisition  of 
wealth,  honours,  and  alliances,  deny  their  inward  marriage  with 
the  Lord ;  and  in  spite  of  it,  prostitute  the  mind  to  become 
the  bed,  where  the  demons  of  the  Third  Hell  engender  their 
odious  and  atrocious  purposes. 

Chap.    ii.    15. — ''  So   hast   thou   also  them  that   hold  the 

DOCTTIINE    OF    THE   NiCOLAITANES,    WHICH   THING   I    HATE." 

280.  By  "  doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitanes,"  may  be  under- 
stood, disorders  pertaining  to  such  as  otherwise  might  be 
ultimate  heavenly-natural  men.  "Which  thing  I  hate," 
signifies,  the  infinite  repugnance  of  the  Lord  to  these  dis- 
orders, the  specification  of  some  of  which  follows  here. 
When  a  man  of  this  type  begins  to  be  re-created,  he  en- 
counters stern  opposition  in  the  flesh  to  the  dictates  of  his 
spirit ;  while  so  far  as  he  is  in  the  flesh,  he  labours  under 
cloudy  perceptions,  and  is  apt  to  imagine  his  own  trials  and 
privations  to  be  excessive,  and  his  own  labours  exceedingly 
meritorious.  So  long  as- he  continues  in  states  like  this,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  induct  the  believer  into  orderly  social 
use. 

TENTH  ILLTJSTEATIOI^. 

Angels  of  the  Society  of  Friends,— Chastenings  produced  by  them,  resulting 
in  purification  from  sexual  disorders. 

281.  I  was  in  the  World  of  Spirits  on  a  certain  occasion,  and 
there  beheld  a  pomegranate  tree,  the  seed  of  which  had  been 
planted  by  an  angel.  Being  in  a  temperate  place,  sheltered 
from  the  blasts  of  the  nether  expanse,  it  grew  vigorously. 
One  of  the  keepers  of  the  spot  where  it  stood  in  the  lawn, 
approached  me,  saying,  "Twelve  varieties  of  fruit  grow  on 
this  heavenly  plant,  each  variety  being  conducive  to  health 
and  vigour,  both  to  the  spirits  and  bodies  of  those  for  whom 
it  is  provided.     You  will   observe  many  things  exceedingly 


SEC.  280—282.]         THE   APOCALTFSU.  149 

important  for  you  to  know^  as  you  stand  beside  the  tree  and 
watcli  attentively  those  wlio  approach  it,  for  the  purpose  of 
gathering.''^  I  now  saw  one  aj^proaching,  exceedingly  ema- 
ciated, with  a  very  sorrowful  face,  a  woman,  I  should  judge 
of  about  thirty-five  years.  Her  garments  were  particoloured, 
denoting  a  celestial  affection  for  truth  in  the  will,  veiled  by 
misapprehension  of  the  mind  and  impure  passions  of  the  body. 
One,  who  seemed  to  be  her  husband,  but  nearly  blind,  followed 
her,  she  leading  him  on.  His  state  seemed  inferior  to  hers, 
his  will  weaker,  his  reason  less  serene,  his  senses  more 
corporeal.  Approaching  the  tree,  they  stood  in  wonder ;  she, 
through  open  vision  beholding  the  fruit,  while  he  listened  to 
her  description  of  it.  Both  desired  earnestly  to  partake  of  it, 
but  she  most  earnestly.  At  the  same  time  an  angel  appeared 
and  said,  "Oh  ye  two,  whence  come  ye,  and  what  is  your 
errand  V  The  woman  modestly  answered,  "  From  the  natural 
world  we  come,  and  I  seek  bread.''  To  this  the  husband 
assented,  though  with  an  abashed  look.  The  angel  smiled  as 
he  asked,  "  Have  you  open  breath  ?"  The  woman  answered 
him,  "  Sir,  I  touched  the  Lord's  hand,  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
in  visions;  the  obstruction  in  my  lungs  was  cleft,  but  my 
husband  is  waiting  still."  "  Come  then,"  said  the  angel, 
"  gather  the  fruit  which  is  nearest  you."  She  put  out  her 
hand  and  gathered  a  pomegranate,  golden  in  the  shadow,  but 
rosy  toward  the  sun. 

282.  Another  approached,  also  a  woman,  and  without  asking 
permission,  clutched  at  the  fruit  in  the  first  woman's  hand, 
crying  as  she  did  so,  "  Good  for  you  is  good  for  me."  But 
the  fruit,  as  she  took  it,  seemed  to  escape,  as  to  its  essence, 
leaving  in  her  grasp  but  a  thin  rind  which  stung  and  blistered 
in  her  palm.  Casting  it  back  into  the  face  of  the  first  woman, 
she  angrily  exclaimed,  "  What  a  cheat  it  is  !  You  may  have 
it,  for  all  I  care."  The  one  addressed  reverently  took  the 
rejected  rind  thrown  at  her ;  instantly  it  rounded  and  became 
full  with  the  aromal  substance  proper  to  itself.  Observing  that 
her  husband  was  feeding  on  something  that  was  provided  for 
him,  she  began  to  partake  of  the  pomegranate.  Her  eyes 
then  became  opened  for  the  first  time  to  the  condition  of  her 
garments.     Weeping,  she  cried  aloud,  "  How  shall  I  cleanso 


150  ABC  ANA    OF    CIIRISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

my  apparel  V  A  voice  spoke  through  her  breast,  replying, 
"  By  keeping  tho  ultimates  of  the  commandments  pertaining 
to  the  Lord's  new  kingdom/'  At  this,  blushing  as  from  some 
inward  discovery,  she  breathed  a  deep  inward  prayer,  and  I 
was  permitted  to  hoar  these  words,  "  How  can  I,  Lord,  since  I 
am  conjoined  to  a  man  who  is  in  natural  disorders  V 

283.  After  this  I  saw  a  company  of  angels  in  a  garden 
through  whicli  flowed  a  pellucid  river  of  the  water  of  life. 
They  had  been,  whilst  on  earth,  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  How  great  the  change  to  observe  the  one  sex 
attired  in  raiment  of  the  very  simplicity  and  exquisiteness  of 
beauty,  while  the  other  had  exchanged  their  formal  garb  for 
floAving  garments  in  the  oriental  style.  They  welcomed  me  in 
the  midst  of  the  group,  cheerfully  adapting  their  breath  to  my 
condition.  At  the  same  time  my  own  respiration,  advancing 
to  meet  theirs,  was  elevated  and  exhilarated.  Among  them 
was  the  angel  who  planted  the  pomegranate  tree.  One 
advanced  and  said,  "  You  were  meditating  upon  the  sins 
specified  as  the  doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitanes.  Look  around 
you  and  behold.  As  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  we 
sought  in  many  respects  to  chasten  ourselves  while  on  earth. 
The  Society  on  earth  is  dying.  We  lived  in  the  freshness  of 
its  manhood.  It  is  only  by  chastening  the  flesh  that  the 
fruits  of  the  spirit  can  ever  prevail.  •  The  pomegranate  tree 
which  you  saw  bears  fruit,  producing,  in  the  minds  of  those 
who  partake,  a  willingness  for  chastenings.  Here  stands  one 
who  is  called  a  chastener."  Approaching  me,  came  forward 
a  rosy  youth,  breathing  in  sweet  unity  with  his  tender 
counterpart,  who  looked  as  if  the  rude  blasts  of  mortality 
had  never  touched  her  cheek.  I  was  drawn  towards  them  with 
the  strong  sympathy  of  the  spirit ;  at  which,  both  clasping  me 
by  the  hand,  pronounced  a  word  of  welcome. 

284.  This  word  of  welcome  contained  an  invitation  to  with- 
draw in  their  society,  and  to  it  the  response  in  my  bosom  was 
full  and  immediate.  The  young  man  after  we  had  gone  apart, 
said,  "  My  wife  will  tell  you  her  concern."  The  smiling  angel, 
who  had  been  a  quakeress,  in  the  language  of  the  Celestial 
Heaven  then  commenced  in  a  silent  speech  of  ideas  without 
words,  presenting  them  in  series  before  the  vision,  rapidly 


SEC.  283—285.]         TRE    APOCALYPSE.  151 

as  wlien  stars  come  forth  in  the  blue  expanse  at  eventide. 
"  Woman,"  she  said,  "  suffers  from  the  doctrines  of  the 
Nicolaitanes,  far  more  than  man.  Her  single  state  is  prefer- 
able to  that,  which,  entering  through  a  flowery  gateway  of 
bridal  hope,  she  learns,  too  late,  to  be  a  garden  of  thorns  and 
thistles.  I  discover  in  your  mind  great  grief  because  woman 
is  enslaved.  Never  fear !  The  purifying  mission  of  our 
Lord's  most  holy  breath  will  prove  effectual.  It  is  not 
possible,  for  man  without  that  breath,  to  attain  to  a  state  of 
corporeal  sanctity  in  its  fulness;  though  he  may  win  to  an 
utter  death  of  sense,  as  the  earth  despoiled  of  summer  heat 
becomes  a  wintry  sepulchre.  With  the  breath  of  God  all 
things  are  possible"  to  him, — sanctification,  holiness,"  full  re- 
demption. He  will  not  be  a  frost  crystal,  but  a  flower  crystal ; 
as  witness  these  who  are  partaking  of  the  fruit  of  the  pome- 
granate tree."  She  then  touched  me  in  the  breast,  saying, 
''  Feel  with  me ;  feel  as  the  woman  feels,  and  then  become  wise 
in  the  peculiar  knowledges  stored  up  in  the  breasts  of  the 
celestial  matrons.''  I  had  before  thought  it  impossible  for 
man  on  earth  to  be  purified  without  almost  incredible  morti- 
fication. I  had  thought  also  that  a  thousand  would  find  it 
impossible  to  attain  to  a  perfect  sanctity,  where  one  would 
win  the  crown;  except  as  they  passed  through  states  of 
wilderness  desolation,  reaching  nearly  to  the  end  of  life. 
Hidden  in  the  interiors  of  the  affections  of  the  pure  matrons 
of  the  Heavens  are  living  arcana  from  the  Word ;  arcana,  by 
the  practice  of  which  man  can  be  purified.  A  tremor  of  in- 
tense joy  vibrated  through  my  frame.  The  Word  was  radi- 
antly opened  to  my  vision,  and  I  wrote  what  follows,  having 
now  a  conjunct  sense  in  the  wisdom  both  of  the  masculine 
and  feminine  mind.  It  was  blessed  to  inhale  the  sweet  breath 
of  purity  and  peace,  while  the  sentences  flowed  from  my  pen 
without  mental  effort  or  sense  of  weariness.  It  was  in  this 
manner  that  the  Woman's  Word,  so  far  as  here  presentedj 
opened  its  resplendent  pages  upon  my  thought. 

285.  When  the  young  child  is  first  initiated  into  the  external 
world,  it  is  enveloped  in  as  many  encompassing  electrical- 
natural  spheres  as  correspond  to  all  the  states  of  regeneration. 
Provision  is  made  by  our  Lord  at  birth,,  as  well  as  before 


152  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ir. 

birtli,  for  a  progression  in  infancy  to  open  respiration.  Pro- 
vided it  be  possible  for  tliem  to  be  isolated  from  man's  con- 
taminations, all  children  of  parents  who  pass  through  the 
initial  respiratory  states,  to  the  death  of  the  natural  soul,  and 
the  re-birth  which  follows,  may  see  their  offspring  delivered, 
some  of  them  at  an  early  age.  Infancy  is  a  perpetual  protest 
against  ancestral  crime ;  an  eterual  exemplification  of  the 
doctrine  of  entailed  sin  and  consequent  misery.  It  is  in  this 
purification  of  infancy  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  great  man- 
hood and  womanhood  of  future  time.  The  beautiful  infant  is 
an  embryo  volcano,  surface  veiled  with  evanescent  untimely 
bloom.  But  the  woman  through  whom  the  children  are  to  be 
re-born  into  the  breath  of  Heaven,  must  be  herself  a  living 
witness  of  the  second  state;  Avhen  formed  holiness  has  re- 
placed within  the  body  the  structures  of  original  and  here- 
ditary sin.  A\nien  children  breathe  the  natural  air,  the  new- 
born lungs  take  in  through  the  natural  breath  of  those  who 
surround  them,  a  seed  of  coiTuptious.  They  are  poisoned  at 
birth.  It  is  to  kill  this  seed,  to  neutralise  these  poisons,  that 
the  open  breathing  woman  takes  upon  herself  the  re-birth  of 
suffering,  perishing  infancy. 

286.  She  hates  with  hatred  that  is  at  once  principle  and 
passion,  the  huge,  creeping  serpent  of  corrupt  sensual  desire. 
She  longs  for  its  destruction,  because  she  sees  it  to  be  that 
terrible  thing  which  organically  renews  the  dynasty  of  Evil, 
and  plants  the  throne  of  Death  in  the  organic  centres  of  each 
new-born  generation.  She  loves  in  the  immensity  of  this 
hatred ; — loves  the  pure  breath  of  God  that  generates  the  pro- 
lific and  immortal  virtues,  the  afiection  that  wastes  not,  the 
excellence  that  builds  forth  the  structures  of  righteousness  in 
man.  She  lives  in  the  new  home  of  God's  open  breathing 
world.  She  represents  Maternity  enthroned  in  virtue,  and 
wielding  the  sceptre  of  its  potent  rectitude.  Upon  the  bosoms 
of  the  little  childi-en  she  lays  her  pm^e  hand,  whose  holy  touch 
dispenses  heaHng.  At  her  breath  the  blights  are  dissipated, 
the  noxious  vapours  from  the  lungs  of  evil  exhale  away.  Here 
is  wisdom,  which  none  of  the  princes  of  this  world,— that  is, 
the  rulers  of  womanhood, — have  known ;  for  had  they  known 
it,  they  would  not,  by  their  fierce  lust,  have  crucified  the 


SEC.  286—287.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  I53 

Lord  of  Glory  in  each  unborn  cliild.  Thus  I  wrote  and 
paused.  An  angel  took  up  my  pen,  and  added,  "  The  respi- 
ration of  woman  is  different  from  that  of  man.  The  maternal 
office  in  its  super-teirestrial  degree,  restored  through  her  new 
breath,  rebuilds  for  infancy  its  overthrown  organic  structures, 
and  prepares  the  way  for  a  new  race.^^ 


ELEVENTH  ILLUSTEATION. 

A  synod  of  trans-terrestrial  men  from  Polj^hymnia.  —  Openings  of  truths 
concerning  certain  obstructions  to  the  new  order,  with  means  for  over- 
coming them. 

287.  I  was  at  a  synod  of  trans-terrestrial  men,  of  the  nature 
of  those  inhabiting  the  orb  Polyhymnia.  In  number  they 
were  about  forty;  pivotal  chiefs.  The  subject  under  con- 
sideration was,  by  what  process  to  aid  on  the  prospective  new 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  on  Earth.  They  were  in  spirit  elevated 
to  the  Ultimative  Earth  of  Spirits,  and  here  the  interview  took 
place  in  the  night  season.  One  of  the  sages  addressed  me  in 
ideas,  some  of  which  follow:  ^^Your  earth,^^  said  he,  "is  deso- 
lated to  a  degree  so  great  that  one  beholds  it  as  a  sepulchre, 
where  harpies  feed  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  The  present 
rule  on  earth  is  harpy  rule.  With  gorged  beaks  and  dripping 
talons  the  chiefs  of  industry  feed  upon  the  gory  body  of  in- 
dustrial man.  Without  the  organization  of  industry,  no  new 
age  can  dawn,  no  new  people  rise,  no  new  church  be  estab- 
lished. How  to  extricate  open  breathing  servants  of  the 
Lord  from  the  domain  of  misrule  ?  is  the  vital  problem.  Tou 
could  be  made  use  of,  in  your  capacity  as  a  chief  of  respiration, 
did  proper  auxiliaries  exist,  to  lead  into  open  breath  a  million 
men,  during  the. period  allotted  to  your  terrestrial  life.  What 
seemed  to  you  a  mountain  when  this  work  of  the  Apocalypse 
was  first  commenced,  is  now  levelled  to  a  hill  of  moderate 
dimensions.  I  will  tell  you,  in  a  word,  what  is  given  me. 
Say  sternly,  to  each  man  who  approaches  you  on  this  topic, 
make  yourself  a  day-labourer ;  make  yourself  a  bread-earner ; 
make  yourself  one  of  those  who  produce  more  than  they  con- 
sume. Hesitation  here  is  fatal.  If  men  will  not  work  faith- 
fully as  to  the  Lord;  if  they  will  not  serve  Him  with  the 


154  ARCANA    OF   CUBISTIANITT.        [chap.  ii. 

fervour,  yea,  and  iron  perseverance,  with  wliich  the  strong 
self-lovers  serve  self,  they  had  better  be  left  to  perish  in 
their  corruptions.  Every  weak-handed  man  or  woman,  every 
lame-backed,  knock-kneed,  vapouring  child  of  clay,  is  so  much 
dead  weight  cast  upon  the  lungs  of  the  willing ;  so  many  iron 
cinders  thi'own  between  the  wheels  of  that  great  revolving 
sun  of  life,  whose  revolutions  produce  the  new  harmony  in 
man.  I  discriminate  between  the  weak  physically,  who  will, 
when  quickened,  rise  above  fleshly  infirmities ;  and  the  weak 
essentially,  who  only  act  as  goaded  on  by  spiritual  forces. 
What  horse  is  that  which  requires  incessantly  to  be  spm^rcd 
on  ?  What  man  is  that  who  cannot  be  trusted  in  the  absence 
of  an  overlooker  ?  The  fatal  thing  about  your  race  is  stupid 
soul-indolence.  To  rouse  them  from  this  requires  more  than 
angels  have ;  more  than  herculean  solar  men  possess.  God 
conspires  freely  with  the  willing  heart ;  but  your  race  drowse 
on  with  a  sluggish  torpor." 

288.  Another  added,  '^  The  working  force  of  an  open  breath- 
ing man  is  dependent  on  his  determination  to  centre  his  whole 
being  in  the  use  given  him.  He  must  conquer  his  use  or  be 
subject  finally  to  fierce  obsessions.  To  do  this,  however,  that 
is,  to  centre  one^s  self  in  the  use,  requires  the  death  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  scortatory  love.  It  is  this  which  debilitates  the  soul, 
more  than  thought,  more  than  labour.  .It  eats  the  bones  as  if 
it  were  so  much  vitriol.  It  makes  every  leaf  of  the  human  tree 
now  hectic,  and  anon  sicklied  over  with  the  pale  hues  of  inci- 
pient decay.  Written  in  the  organon  of  God's  new  harmony,  I 
read  this ;  (opening  as  he  said  this,  the  Word)  the  truths  of  the 
Heavens,  falling  into  defiled  channels,  have  produced  modifi- 
cations of  natural  social  order.  Mark  the  truth,  deflected 
into  the  theory  of  the  followers  of  Ann  Lee.  They  say,  that, 
until  man  can  rise  out  of  the  carnal  ordinance  in  the  sex,  a 
loving  social  union  is  an  impossibility.  They  see  plainly  that 
the  man  who  loves  in  self,  marries  in  self,  and  procreates  off- 
spring in  self,  and  is  only  fit  for  a  social  system  based  upon  the 
interests  which  spring  from  self-love.  Until,  therefore,  men 
can  love  in  the  Lord,  and  only  receive  offspring  as  a  divine 
dictate  and  purity,  they  are  trammelled  by  the  old,  they  cannot 
receive  the  new.     The  unmarried  man  is  asking  whom  he  shall 


SEC.  288—291.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  155 

marry  ?  The  married  man,  so  long  as  natural,  witli  closed 
respiratories,  by  every  sex-act  makes  himself  more  and  more 
an  incorporate  element  of  the  huge  self-system  of  mankind. 
There  is  no  liberation  into  order,  but  by  dethronement  of  the 
tyrants,  subversive  sex-desire,  subversive  sex-relations/' 

289.  "  The  waste  of  womanhood  throughout  your  orb,^^  con- 
tinued another  speaker,  ''  the  deterioration  of  her  powers,  in 
consequence  of  the  disordered  sex-life,averages,in  Christendom, 
one  pulse  beat  in  every  two  seconds  of  time,  very  nearly.  The 
motive  force  of  the  organism  is  diminished  one-half,  and  the 
capacities  of  endurance  and  longevity,  both,  to  this  extent,  cut 
off.  But,  while  the  coarse  force  is  thus  diminished,  the  fine 
force  of  resistance  in  the  body  against  Pandemonium  is  taken 
away  in  a  ratio  of  a  thousand  to  one,  and  even  more.  In  com- 
bating for  others,  you  will  discover  a  thousand  weights  upon 
a  struggling  organism,  all  of  which  are  so  many  mill-stones 
around  the  neck  of  life,  sinking  it  in  the  sea;  and  of  these, 
perhaps,  all  but  one  are  directly  or  consequently  the  result  of 
sex-disorder.  It  is  through  the  door,  strait  as  the  narrowest 
entrance  into  ancient  Zion,  the  needless  eye,  that  of  the  reno- 
vated sex,  that  the  good  man  may  be  saved,  entering  into 
golden  use  and  rich  fruits. ^^ 

290.  All  assented  to  this.  One  added,  ''  When'a  young  child 
has  gone  out  into  the  natural  world,  its  breath  cannot  be  opened 
until  the  vii'us  of  an  absorbed  scortation,  full  of  larvae,  like 
locusts,  is  drawn  back  from  the  lungs  .'^  Another  continued,  "  If 
you  can  surround  children  with  an  influence  wholly  hostile  to, 
and  fully  destructive  of  this  latent  hell  within  the  blood,  such 
can  pass  with  little  difficulty  into  an  open  respiratory  state ; 
suitable  teachings  and  examples  being  given.^^  A  third  finally 
added,  "  A  hundred  such  children  are  more  easily  led  up  to 
the  whole  newness  of  the  frame,  than  one  reformed  man  whose 
body  has  been  made  an  imaginative  hot-bed  of  disordered  pas- 
sions j  yea,  verily,  and  a  thousand  little  maidens.^' 

291.  At  this  I  was  filled,  directly  from  the  Lord,  with  so 
intense  a  zeal  for  the  promulgation  of  the  truth  concerning 
these  things,  that  a  belt  of  white  light  came  forth  through  my 
frame,  and  wrapped  it  in  a  zone ;  and  when  this  had  occurred, 
fays  began  to  congregate  within  its  radius,  all  of  them  of  the 


156  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

kind  iulaabitiug  the  expanses  occupied  by  trans-terrestrial  men. 
So  I  sprang  in  spirit  to  an  enlianccd  power,  and  came  "back  to 
earth,  refreshed  and  exhilarated  in  a  wonderful  degree.  For 
particulars  of  trans-terrestrial  men,  see  hereafter. 


292.  By  '' doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitanes/'must  be  understood, 
again,  the  instinct  in  the  natural  soul  for  absorbing  into  itself 
the  madness  of  the  Hells,  and  for  seeking  sex-union  in  that 
state.  So  long  as  man  and  woman  are  in  a  closed  respiratory 
state,  so  long,  in  fine,  as  the  old  natural  soul  dominates,  there 
is  no  absolute  purity  in  any  sex-relation ;  though,  for  divine 
ends,  the  present  existing  order  in  Christendom  has  been 
permitted  as  a  bar  against  worse  evils. 

TWELFTH  ILLUSTEATION. 

Conversation  in  tlie  Earth  of  Spirits  with  a  man,  respecting  the  collective  thought 
of  Christendom  concerning  conjugial  love.  Warnings  and  advice  to  youths  of 
the  new  age. 

293.  I  asked  a  man  who  represented  the  collective  sentiment 
of  the  entire  Christian  church,  now  extant  on  earth,  to  speak 
to  me,  from  that  combined  sentiment,  on  this  particular ;  and 
he  responded.  "  We  hold  in  spirit  that  there  is  no  sex  in 
Heaven,  because  it  is  essentially  carnal.^^  I  replied,  "  Do  we 
not  hold  that  man  may  become  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
so  far  that  utter  santificatiou  may  ensue. ^^  He  replied,  ''  It  is 
dimly  held  by  some  among  us ;  when  they  are  sanctified,  how- 
ever, to  this  extent,  they  are  as  the  angels,  without  any  sexual 
love."  He  further  continued,  "When  a  man  is  married,  to 
a  woman  the  priest  who  celebrates  the  nuptials  gives  them 
to  each  other,  and  they  are  conjoined,  jpro  sacerdota,  in  a  legal 
manner  to  beget  lawfully.  Do  you  suppose  that  the  sexual 
passions  which  mix,  differ  from  those  of  pagans  who  do  not 
marry  ^ro  sacerdota  ?  It  is  all  one  thing."  I  thanked  him 
for  his  courtesy.  He  then  asked  me,  '^  What  do  you  think  ?" 
Seeing  it  to  be  in  order  I  stated  my  belief;  but  when  I  ex- 
pressed my  faith  that  orderly  nuptial  union  might  result  from 
a  direct  interflowing  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  he  burst  into  incon- 


SEC.  292—295.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  157 

trollable  laughter  and  exclaimed^  "  You  are  a  man  ;  every  man 
knows  better  tlian  that  V  I  was  moved  witli  indignation, 
though  not  to  rage,  and  had  abnost  answered  him,  ''  If  your 
thoughts  were  above  those  of  a  gorilla,  you  and  Christendom 
would  know  better." 

294.  I  admit  that  in  the  youth  and  freshness  of  the  heart, 
the  man  may  love  a  woman  at  first  ideally  and  romantically, 
but  as  that  ideal  sentiment  embodies  itself,  he  desires  grossly. 
The  two  meet  upon  a  high  plane  often,  but  however  orderly, 
in  a  legal  sense,  the  relation  that  ensues,  it  drops  to  results 
which  are  commonly  profanations.  To  those  who  would  shun 
the  "hateful  doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitanes,'' there  is  a  plain  road. 
Let  the  young  man  seek  first  of  all,  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness ;  let  him  seek  to  be  an  open  respiring  man ; 
let  him  ask  and  receive  a  use  of  the  Lord,  and  become  in  that 
use  thoroughly  proficient ;  let  him  continue  in  it  till  by  degrees 
the  old  natural  soul  which  he  has  inherited,  coerced  into  sub- 
mission, pierced  in  its  centre  of  life,  dies  within  the  frame, 
and  the  new  natural  soul  created  as  an  ultimate  form  for  the 
new  man,  made  in  God^s  image  and  likeness,  is  instituted  in 
its  place.  He  is  then,  for  the  first  time,  in  a  state  to  receive  of 
the  Lord,  the  wife  who  is  prepared  for  him.  This  will  require, 
upon  his  part,  the  observance  of  rules  in  the  conduct  of  life 
which  are  strict  and  imperative.  He  cannot,  during  the 
initiatory  states,  pursue  an  acquaintance  with  even  the  most 
chaste  and  elevated  of  maidens  ;  but  must  isolate  himself  from 
female  society.  The  natural  soul  feeds  upon  an  insensible 
emanation ;  first,  from  the  collective  life  of  woman ;  second, 
from  wandering  spirits  of  women  in  the  subtle  parts  of  natm^e; 
and  third,  from  specific  individuals  toward  whom  exist  attrac- 
tions. Now  the  natural  soul,  full  of  instinctive  longings,  both 
seeks  to  draw  beauty  towards  itself,  and  then  to  be  nourished 
by  taking  in  its  fine  personal  aromas. 

295.  The  Romeo  and  Juliet  play  of  youthful  life  cannot  be 
enacted  on  the  actual  stage  of  our  Creator^s  coming  kingdom. 
The  natural  soul  that  is  first  content  with  drinking  in  the  rose 
fragrance  in  the  sphere  of  the  chosen  object,  becomes  con- 
tinually more  corporeal,  till  it  exhausts,  if  possible,  the  very 
heart  of  its  organic  life,  till  it  consmnes  the  elixir  of  the  form. 


158  ARCANA    OF    CURISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

It  is  in  the  bcginuing  that  tho  first  stand  must  be  made.  The 
youth,  in  the  horoisiu  of  these  iDcrfections,  will  not  so  much  as 
touch  the  lips  or  hand  of  the  pui'e  maiden  till  he  can  say  to 
her  in  truth  this ;  "  My  body  has  become  an  earthly  palace 
and  sanctuary  for  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  "  It  is/'  says  one, 
*'  a  hard  doctrine.  Who  can  bear  it  ?  "  Nay,  young  brother,  not 
hard ;  think  of  what  you  do  in  the  alternative.  By  permitting 
your  natural  soul  to  fasten  and  feed  upon  the  aromal  ele- 
ments of  an  impure  one,  you  drink  in  perdition  seven  times 
distilled.  By  absorbing  the  life  of  one  of  the  sex  in  mere 
natural  corporeal  breath  and  thought  and  beauty,  you  enter 
into  communion  with  the  mere  corporeal  elements  of  such  as 
are  sunken  in  nature ;  you  feed  upon  that  which  nourishes 
in  you  a  gross  corporeality.  By  taking  into  yourself  the 
effluences  of  one  in  Avhom  the  Lord's  new  breath  is  a  presence 
and  a  power,  but  who  is  not  fully  ascended  into  the  perfection 
of  the  new  frame,  you  bring  her  organically,  not  alone  into 
rapport  with  your  own  natm'al  soul,  which  is  evil,  but  also 
into  rapport  with  the  infernals  who  flow  through  it ;  while  at 
the  same  time  that  evil  natural  soul  of  yours  grasps  or  seeks 
to  interlock  itself  with  hers,  and  endeavours  to  become  positive 
over  your  higher  natm'e,  by  going  out  to  insidious  conjunction 
with  all  the  powers  germane  to  the  hereditary  evils  in  her 
frame.  You  murder  her  sleep  by  the  projection  of  a  disturbing 
influence  into  the  nervous  system,  and  are  made  to  haunt  her 
and  torment  her.  You  endanger  the  permanence,  while  you 
retard  the  advancement,  of  her  new-formed  open  breathing 
life. 

THIETEENTH   ILLUSTBATION. 

A  conversation  in  the  Spiritual  World  between  a  Swedenborgian,  recently 
deceased,  and  two  young  men  from  the  .earth,  on  conjugial  love. — Their 
carnal  views  rebuked  by  an  angel. — A  suffering  wife  fleeing  from  her 
husband. — Ineffable  purities  of  the  orderly  marriage  state. — A  warning 
to  young  maidens. — Two  virgins  from  the  earth,  entering  a  temple  in 
the  Spiritual  World,  have  their  lamps  filled  and  lighted. — They  seek 
purification  through  internal  respiration. 

296.  I  was  present  in  the  World  of  Spirits  on  a  certain  occa- 
sion, and  met  two  men,  both  of  whom  had  heard  of  open 
respiration,  and  both  of  whom  had  some  faith  in  it,  as  a  coming 


SEC.  296—299.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  159 

fact  for  man.  Neither  were  married ;  their  ideas  concerning 
respiration  were  gross,  and  one  was  felicitating  his  comrade, 
saying,  "  How  delightful  it  will  be  !  Swedenborg  has  said, 
which  is  true,  that  marriage  brings  on  earth  impotency  and  a 
satiated  state ;  but  that  the  angels  live  in  a  corporeal  plenum 
of  delights  of  this  sort.  You  get  open  respiration,  and  you 
will  be  like  an  angel.^'  ^^Yes,'''  replied  the  one  thus  ad- 
dressed, "  that  is  just  what  I  want,  blessed  be  God."  They 
then  fell  to  conversing  upon  the  New  Jerusalem,  wholly  from 
this  point  of  view.  One  touched  them  upon  the  shoulder,  and 
said,  "  Friends,  your  remarks  are  offensive.  If  you  go  back 
into  the  body,  let  me  tell  you,  that  as  you  take  this  thought 
into  the  natural  degree  of  the  mind,  the  Hells  will  have 
strong  power  against  you  through  it."  One  of  the  two 
thus  addressed,  starting  back,  cried,  ^'1  base  this  faith  on 
Swedenborg.  What  more  true  than  his  doctrine  concerning 
conjugial  love  ?  " 

297.  At  this  moment,  a  spirit  who  had  been  on  earth  a 
Swedenborgian,  and  much  immersed  in  corporeal  things,  came 
up,  looking  dejected,  and  said,  "  Gentlemen,  there  is  somewhere 
a  mistake.  I  was  a  New  Churchman,  and  fully  expected,  on 
leaving  the  body,  to  have  my  conjugial  associate  assigned  me 
of  the  Lord.  This  was  done ;  but,  bless  me,  I  have  none  of 
the  powers  of  a  husband.  Give  me  Earth  for  that.  She  re- 
cedes as  I  approach,  and  I  wither."  Knowing  by  perception 
the  last  speaker,  I  called  him  by  name.  He  took  my  hand  in 
his,  and  expressed  himself  delighted  to  see  me,  but  mournfully 
spoke  on,  "  I  say,  there  is  some  mistake." 

298.  The  angel  then  opened  and  read  to  them  the  words 
concerning  the  doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  saying,  "Brethren, 
you  are  involved  mentally  in  these  hateful  things,  and  fail  to 
discriminate."  To  those  from  our  world,  he  continued ;  "  If 
you  receive  open  respiration  from  our  Lord,  and  it  advances  to 
its  perfection,  you  will  learn  to  loathe  the  idea,  concerning  sex 
relations,  which  you  now  cherish,  and  blush  at  ever  having 
thought  as  you  do."  To  the  spu-it,  he  said,  "  Dear  friend,  when 
you  are  purified  of  the  remaining  increments  of  evil,  the  mis- 
take of  which  you  complain  will  be  adverted  to  no  more." 

299.  While  returning  to  our  earth,  after  this,  I  met  another 


IGO  ARCANA    OF   CHBISTIANITY.  [citap.  it. 

of  its  inliabitants,  -whose  body  must  have  been  wrapt  in  sleep 
at  the  time.  He  was  dragging  after  him  by  the  arm,  a  shrink- 
ing, protesting  figiu-e,  clothed  in  white,  and  was  savagely  cry- 
ing, "  God  has  given  you  to  me  in  the  holy  marriage  relation." 
Both  addressed  me  by  name,  both  appealing  to  me.  I  asked 
them  what  was  the  trouble  ?  The  man  cried,  "  Heaven  itself 
cannot  bear,  nor  God  require  it."  The  woman  interposed, 
"  Heaven  itself  cannot  bear  what  I  bear,  nor  our  Lord  require 
it."  The  man  spoke  again,  "  You  are  unwilling  to  be  a  wife." 
The  woman  answered,  "  If  this  is  being  a  wife,  I  would  rather 
be  annihilated."  Now,  perception  being  given  me,  I  saw  that 
both  man  and  woman  possessed  high  and  growing  natures,  but 
the  one  evil,  a  disorderly  sex  relation,  was  breeding  discord 
from  heart  to  form.  He  said,  "When  she  gets  out  of  the  body 
and  I  leave  it  in  sleep,  she  is  like  a  wild  deer ;  I  might  as  well 
try  to  catch  a  chamois  on  the  Alps."  She  solemnly  said, 
"  Husband,  it  is  my  only  chance  for  life.  If  you  were  orderly 
with  me  in  the  body,  leaving  it,  clasjDed  in  each  other's  arms, 
we  should  ascend  to  some  delightsome  paradise  and  breathe 
the  airs  of  purity  together.  "We  are  disjoined  in  heart,  dis- 
orders make  it  so ;  you  come  here  out  of  the  body  and  you  find 
A  and  B,"  mentioning  names,  "  and  who  else  I  know  not, 
who  confirm  you  that  sex  is  carnal,  and  that  as  men  understand 
it,  it  is  perpetuated  in  Heaven ;  you  insist  that  I  shall  stay  there 
with  you  and  imbibe  what  saturates  them.  Drag  me  into  the 
body  with  you.  By-and-by  I'll  leave  it,  never  to  return.  Then 
you  may  get  a  woman  to  think  with  you.  God  have  pity  on 
me!" 

300.  Whoever  stirs  up  the  pool  of  the  world's  corruptions 
must  expect  to  incur  the  enmity  of  the  foul  fiends  that  cra-v^l 
within  it.  One  bad  man givesthe  cue  to  his cotemporaries,  and 
a  million  of  the  weak,  half  good,  take  up  with  his  suggestion ; 
but  I  defy  any  man  with  quickened  conscience,  coolly,  calmly, 
and  prayerfully  to  meditate  upon  the  topics  here  presented, 
without  admitting  the  general  principles  now  laid  down.  The 
natural  man  is  mad  on  this  point.  It  is  as  impossible  to 
reach  him  by  fact  or  argument,  as  it  is  to  convince  the  insane. 
How  diflFerent  might  things  be !  The  young  might  meet 
with  bodies  pure  as  Eden,  with  hearts  sweet  as  the  breath 


SEC.  300—301.]         TRE  APOCALYPSE.  161 

of  its  unwasting,  undying  flowers.  Kecognition  of  fitness 
miglit  be  given,  by  perception  from  our  Lord,  tliat  they 
were  breathed  forth  in  blissful  coalescence  from  His  Infinite 
bosom  to  run  the  varied  rounds  of  being  in  most  pure  com- 
munion. Marriage  might  be  the  public  recognition  of  the  truth 
that  the  Lord  stood  within  them  interclasping  them  as  in 
the  arms  of  His  own  divine  human  life.  Over  every  act  of 
endearment  angels  might  bend  with  no  averted  eye.  What 
prevents  the  realization  of  this  better  than  Arcadian  vision  ? 
Nothing  but  this  ;  for  the  shadow,  the  foolish,  the  insane,  forego 
the  reahty.  Nothing  but  this  ;  that  the  deluded  seekers  after 
shadows  confirm  themselves  by  reasonings  in  the  natural  mind, 
that  shadow  is  substance  and  that  fiction  is  truth  divine. 

301.  The  prompting  cause  to  marriage  with  nearly  all  men, 
is  the  craving  of  sense.  With  woman  far  more  often  it  is  the 
craving  of  the  heart.  How  is  it  possible  for  the  heart  of  woman 
to  find  that  sweet  companionship  which  it  requires,  from  the 
partner  in  whom  the  fine  instinct  of  the  heavenly  nature  is 
blunted  and  deadened  by  a  sense  appetite,  which  is  madness  de- 
prived of  its  gratifications,  and  which,  when  indulged,  like  a  cold, 
slimy  serpent,  twines  itself  about  the  being  and  lies  down  to 
sleep  in  gorged  stupidity.  "Give  me,"  cries  the  heart  of  woman, 
'^what  I  require,  an  interflowing  love,  in  whose  ascending  breath 
I  may  go  up  Godward ;  give  me  an  element  quickening,  ener- 
gising, soul-purifying,  in  which  I  may  become  complete." 

"  A  perfect  woman  nobly  planned, 
To  warn,  to  comfort,  to  command." 

She  finds  a  solitude.  The  home  which  should  be  an  Eden 
garden  with  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst,  where  flow  the  rivers 
from  the  fourfold  heart  of  the  Divine  affections,  and  where  the 
blossoming  vii'tues  never  die,  but  ripen  to  eternal  beatitudes, 
is  made  in  its  inversions  like  one  of  those  petrified  forests 
which  have  been  submerged  beneath  the  ocean  till  every  tree 
is  coated  with  its  acrid,  salty  crystals,  and  then  lifted  in  some 
vast  upheaval,  like  those  stony  woodlands  on  the  ledges  of  the 
Andes,  set  in  a  rim  of  barren  sand,  and  thrown  in  desolate 
relief  against  a  blazing,  torrid  sky.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to 
'  touch  a  woman's  heart ;  a  fearful  thing  to  lay  hands  profanely 
on  the  temple  of  her  body ;  a  fearful  thing  to  let  loose  ihQ  fiends 


162  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 


of  passion  and  bid  them  gorge  themselves  upon  her  delicate 
beauty,  as  if  tigers  were  turned  into  some  awful  sanctuary  to  feed 
upon  the  vestal  virgins;  a  fearful  thing,  as  every  mother  feels, 
gazing  upon  the  blooming  daughter  first  entering  upon  young 
life.  But  where  shall  be  found  the  remedy  ?  How  shall  she 
escape  from  the  hateful  works  of  the  Nicolaitanes  ?  Blessed  be 
God  that  open  respiration  breaks  up  the  tyranny  of  the  senses, 
and  liberates  the  imprisoned  affections  of  the  breast ! 

302.  For  the  young  daughter  who  hesitates,  who  falters, 
who  is  deficient  in  moral  resolution,  there  is  no  hope  and  no 
escape.  Deliverance  only  comes  to  those  who  resolutely  dare 
the  ordeal,  which,  in  the  path  of  open  respiration,  becomes 
evident.  If  she  compromises,  if  she  allows  the  fetters,  woven  by 
the  natural  soul  of  man,  to  be  thrown  upon  her,  desolate  must 
be  her  fate.  Daughter,  let  wisdom  counsel  thee,  let  the  Divine 
Wisdom  guide  thee,  take  counsel  of  thy  Lord.  The  virgin  in 
whom  open  respiration  begins,  open  through  her  Bible  to  her 
God,  has  before  her  an  open  door  of  perfect  freedom.  She  has 
to  adopt  one  motto,  "  a  husband  wholly  in  the  Lord,  with  a 
purification  of  both  soul  and  body,  or  a  life  of  single  purity 
and  peace."  Hers  is  utterly  to  renounce  and  scorn  and  set  her 
foot  upon  the  allurements  to  a  courtship  and  a  marriage  when 
the  seeker  seeks  with  an  unsanctified  flame. 

303.  I  saw  two  virgins.  Both  of  ,them,  as  to  the  body,  in- 
habitants of  Earth,  transported  during  sleep  to  the  World  of 
Spirits.  Both  cried,  "  We  are  seeking  Almighty  God,  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ."  An  angel  met  them.  He  led  them 
up  to  a  celestial  temple  where  a  great  multitude  were  engaged 
in  worship,  and  which  stood  at  no  great  distance.  Each,  as 
she  drew  near,  prostrated  herself  in  silent  adoration.  Entering 
in,  they  were  greeted  by  the  whole  assembly,  who  arose  as 
one,  while  a  h5"mn  of  welcome  pealed  through  the  sacred 
edifice.  They  held  lamps,  seeking  to  fill  them,  and  instantly 
a  divine  oil  was  poured  into  each,  and  a  flame  lighted ;  but 
the  lamps  were  then  by  some  occult  process  drawn  into  their 
bosoms.  I  was  told  that  these,  on  returning  into  the  body, 
would  long  to  receive  the  quickening  breath  and  visitation. 

304.  As  they  returned  toward  the  earth,  I  heard  them  con- 
versing, and  one  said  to  the  other,  "  I  know  three  things  from 


SEC.  302—305.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  163 

tlie  Lord.  One  is^  tliat  a  demon,  through  every  young  man 
whose  old  natural  soul  is  alive,  and  who  seeks  to  pay  attention 
to  me,  endeavours,  through  my  natural  soul,  to  rob  and  ruin 
my  spirit.  Another  is,  that  I  can  never  become  the  wife,  full 
wife,  the  perfect  vessel  of  life  to  a  husband,  till  the  old  natm-al 
soul  in  my  own  frame  is  dead.  The  third  thing  is,  that  I  can 
only  attain  to  this  state  by  giving  up  my  being  to  the  Lord  in 
open  respiration,  and  following  the  rules  laid  down  in  the  Word 
concerning  it.'"  The  other  virgin  answered,  "  I  know  three 
things,  also,  from  the  Lord.  The  first  is,  that  I  must  seek  a 
specific  use  in  the  Lord^s  new  kingdom,  and  make  myself  per- 
fect in  it.  The  second  is,  that  I  must  give  myself  no  thought 
of  any  youth,  but  hold  every  afiectiou  disengaged  till  my  new 
natural  soul  is  given  me.  The  third  is,  that  I  must  plainly 
and  unreservedly  make  profession  of  this  my  faith,  though  it 
m.akes  me  an  outcast  from  my  home,  the  subject  of  open 
ridicule  and  scorn.  My  lamp  burns  brightly  and  is  full  of  oil ; 
I  must  keep  it  trimmed  and  burning  till  the  Lord  cometh." 

305.  They  were  met,  as  they  passed  down  toward  the  earth, 
by  two  youths  of  prepossessing  appearance,  each  of  whom 
seemed  to  be  an  admirer.  One  young  man  said  to  the  other, 
as  they  approached,  "  There  are  our  beauties.^'  At  this  moment 
an  angel  with  a  flaming  sword  interposed  between  the  youths 
and  the  virgins.  His  appearance  was  dazzling  as  the  sun. 
The  suitors  were  terrified  as  if  it  were  an  apparition  of  Deity. 
One  youth  fell  upon  his  knees,  the  other  fled  in  consternation. 
The  one  upon  his  knees  was  lifted  by  the  angel,  who  said  to 
him,  "  My  son,  be  not  afraid,  I  am  one  of  those  who  serve 
God  and  keep  His  commandments.  Tell  me  with  what  end 
you  sought  yon  maiden."  With  trembling  awe  the  youth 
responded.  '^My  motives  will  not  all  bear  inspection.  In 
plain  terms,  I  wished  to  solace  myself  with  her  charms ;  but 
I  also  held  her  in  honour.  I  now  see  by  a  new  something 
that  shines  in  my  breast  that  the  carnal  heart  but  lusted.  The 
sentiment  that  flowed  in  the  most  tender  and  afi'ectionate  ex- 
pressions held  a  fiery  virus.  I  turn  away  from  it.  I  repent, 
indeed  I  do,  most  bitterly  repent ;  but  alas  !  when  I  re-enter 
the  body,  my  natural  instinct  will  seek  a  union  which  I  know 
will  coerce  her  to  a  dead,  natural  insanity.'' 

1/  2 


164  ABCANA   OF  CSBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ir. 

306.  The  other  youth  seeing  that  the  angel  now  appeared  as 
a  man  amicably  conversing,  took  licart  and  came  back.  Well, 
said  he,  "  Prettyfixce  has  gone  and  left  us.^'  The  angel  looked 
at  him,  and  said,  "  Sir,  what  is  it  that  you  say  ?  "  He  replied, 
"  I  meant  to  sec  the  girls  home ;  but  they  have  given  me  the 
slip.'^  At  this  he  looked  knowingly  at  his  friend,  and,  as  if 
forced  to  unbosom  himself,  went  on.  ''  I  knew  a  country 
fellow  who  could  play  nine  tunes  on  a  Jew^s  harp,  but  I  could 
play  ninety  and  nine  tunes  on  that  girFs  heart.  The  way  to 
get  her  is  to  get  converted  first  and  join  the  church.  How 
they  thaw  out  when  they  think  we  are  pious  !  That  I  call 
entering  at  the  strait  gate.  When  I  get  that  rose  of  Zion 
at  my  button  hole,  I'll  give  her  a  slight  exhibition  of  the  old 
Adam.''  The  angel  smote  him  on  his  mouth,  and,  as  he  did  so, 
the  man,  driven  back  to  his  body,  awoke  in  the  natural  world. 
But  the  other,  upon  his  knees,  and  struggling  against  the 
spirit  of  wickedness,  began  asking  what  he  should  do  to  be 
saved. 


307.  By  ''  doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitanes,"  may  also  be  under- 
stood, the  abominable  evils  which  take  possession  of  children 
in  consequence  of  the  culpable  ignorance  concerning  the  more 
sacred  subjects  of  life  and  its  origin,  in  which  they  are  suffered 
to  grow  up.  A  mother  said  to  me,  when  I  requested  her  to 
inform  her  child  concerning  these  things,  "  I  cannot ;  I  dare 
not."  Parents  of  both  sexes  are  ashamed  to  state  to  their 
own  offspring  how  they  came  into  the  world. 

FOUETEENTH    ILLUSTRATION. 

The  boast  of  a  man  in  Hell,  of  his  power  to  undo  the  work  of  Christ  in 
youthful  hearts,  by  means  of  obscene  books. — The  importance  of  in- 
structing children  in  the  laws  of  the  origin  of  life.— The  woeful  wrongs 
committed  against  offspring  in  their  conception  and  thence  to  birth. — 
The  agonies  of  the  World-Soul  over  the  miseries  of  little  children. — 
Directions  from  our  Lord  for  the  organization  of  methods  of  relief  for 
infantile  humanity. — His  wonderful  manifestations  in  its  behalf. 

308.  I  met  a  man  in  Hell  who  on  Earth  had  been  the  author 
of  a  most  infamous  book.   He  was  boasting   in  a  circle  of 


SEC.  306—309.]         TRE    AFOCALYJPSE.  165 


demons  of  the  access  wliicli  he  had  through  it  to  youthful 
minds.  "  Jesus  Christ,'^  said  he^  "  and  all  His  apostles,  may 
preach,  and  argue,  and  work  miracles,  but  I  can  turn  the 
tables  upon  them,  for  I  am  read  privately  and  understandingly 
till  pi-ayer  is  snuffed  out  like  a  candle."  I  was  horrified  by 
their  conversation,  and  went  away  in  extreme  anguish,  crying 
to  our  Lord,  "  How  can  the  power  which  is  exercised  by 
demons  through  impure  writings  be  put  down  ? ''  There  is 
no  subject  which  exercises  such  a  mysterious  influence  over 
the  young  as  that  which  treats  of  hfe  and  its  origin.  The 
natural  soul  of  both  sexes  is  instinctively  amorous  and  adul- 
terous. It  is  born  of  magnetised  states  in  the  bodies  of  its 
parents.  The  Lord  has  little  access  because  its  doors  are 
shut. 

309.  I  was  meditating  profoundly  when  a  matron  came 
to  me  leading  by  the  hand  a  little  girl.  '^  Ah,"  said  she, 
'' brother,  it  is  indeed  true  as  the  demon  boasted,  that  he 
has  more  power  with  the  young,  as  to  their  bodies,  than 
Christianity  has,  in  this  dying  state  of  religion.  Ignorance 
is  the  door  to  evil,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  the 
appointed  means  for  its  overthrow ;  especially  the  knowledge 
of  open  respiration  which  brings  down  to  the  bodies  of  chil- 
dren the  inspirations  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  On  introspecting 
the  states  of  a  hundred  children  in  the  natural  world,  three- 
fourths  of  them  are  fully  able  to  comprehend  whatever  should 
be  told  them  concerning  their  germ  existence  in  the  Heavens, 
prior  to  their  descent  into  nature,  and  the  process  pertaining 
to  this  descent.  Again,  there  is  hope  of  the  young.  Divines, 
for  the  most  part,  though  of  the  utmost  experience  and  right 
knowledge  in  dogmas,  cannot  be  made  to  see  the  truth  or  feel 
it  as  these  children  can.  They  are  like  hollow  gourds  con- 
taining empty  pebbles."  "  Why,"  said  I,  "  do  you  call  them 
hollow  gourds  containing  pebbles  ?  "  She  replied,  "  Because, 
emptied  of  true  knowledge,  by  the  extinction  of  the  innocent 
and  pure  germs  of  ideas,  which  the  child  has,  concretions  of 
material  facts  or  suppositions  lie  at  loose  ends  within  their 
minds.  Set  up  a  gourd  within  the  pulpit  with  a  serving-man 
to  shake  it,  and  it  conveys  about  as  much  essential  information. 
I  visited  as  a  watching  angel  a  hundred  theologians,  fathers  of 


16G  ABC  AN  A    OF   CRRISTIANITY.  chap.  n. 

fiimilies,  learned  bishops,  cniinent  presbyters, — gourds  all  of 
them,  dry  gourds  containing  pebbles  !  Can  you  wonder  that 
the  children  of  clergymen  run  wild  ?  "  "  No,"  I  replied.  She 
added,  ''  Solid  and  substantial  truth  should  bo  taught  to  infants 
through  open  respiration.  They  must  know  the  inversions  of 
the  age,  but  parents  so  blush  at  their  own  misdeeds,  that  they 
cannot  open  truths  to  their  innocent  offspring.  Tlie  terrible 
questions  which  infancy  puts,  are  terrible  to  them  because 
they  are  not  in  states  of  innocence.  I  am  one  of  a  society 
whose  use  it  is  to  instruct  children  who  die  young,  and  I  avow 
to  you  that  seven-eighths  physically  perish  in  consequence  of 
the  woeful  wrong  committed  in  their  conception,  and  thence 
to  their  natural  birth.  They  rise  into  the  Spiritual  World,  and 
there  must  be  delivered  from  an  essence  which  clings  about 
them  in  the  shape  of  the  wretched  ape.  Parents  beget  the 
ape  image.  Oh,  woeful  night  of  ignorance  and  subsequent 
contamination  V 

310.  I  afterward  saw  a  little  child  about  two  years  old, 
whose  spirit  had  just  been  taken  from  the  dead  body; 
swathing  after  swathing  of  essential  substance,  ape  form  after 
ape  form,  skin  after  skin,  each  made  up  of  superficial  organs, 
loathsome,  livid,  full  of  crawling  creatures.  When  the  little 
one  was  taken  from  this,  it  lay  pale  and  languid  in  an  angel's 
arms,  so  that  I  saw  that  the  spiritual  -fingers  were  but  rudi- 
ments. Organ  after  organ  exposed  to  sight  was  in  this  rudi- 
mentary state.  I  saw  also  a  terrible  fact,  at  which  I  wondered. 
The  male  parent  of  this  child  had  grown  up  in  ignorance  of 
the  life  laws,  except  as  educated  through  fearful  misstatements 
and  loathsome  perversions.  These  misstatements  and  perver- 
sions had  each  become  a  living  thing  in  the  natural  soul,  per- 
petuating itself  into  the  body  of  the  babe.  Well  might  the 
demon  boast  of  his  power  to  destroy.  Let  down  into  the 
lowest  Earth  of  Spirits,  near  the  Hells,  I  there  saw  many  men 
and  women  who  go  down  by  night  to  absorb  a  virus  from  the 
pit,  and  who  come  back  into  the  body  filled  with  its  contamina- 
tions, and  incited  by  them  to  lust.  My  perceptions  were  then 
extended  into  the  natural  world,  and  I  saw  their  offspring  con- 
ceived in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity.  These  also  are  doctrines 
and  resultant  crimes  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  hated  of  our  Lord. 


SEC.  310—314.]        THE   APOCALYPSE.       .  167 

311.  I  heard  upon  a  certain  occasion  a  deep  moan  proceed- 
ing as  through,  the  whole  body  of  the  globe,  and  trembhno-  up 
into  the  atmospheric  region.  It  was  the  voice  of  the  world- 
soul  in  distress,  and  grieving,  in  her  sensitive  nature,  over  the 
miseries  inflicted  on  little  childi'en.  I  then  left  in  spirit  the 
terrestrial  orb,  and  was  conducted  to  the  planet  Mars.  An 
ancient  of  that  world  met  me,  and  after  tender  salutations, 
conducted  me  to  the  auriferous  region  in  or  near  its  tropics. 
He  laid  his  hand  upon  my  breast,  and  said,  "  Listen.^^  I  did 
so,  and  distinctly  heard  the  world- soul  of  that  orb  in  deep 
vibrations  sympathising  with  the  distress  of  ours.  The  spirits 
of  the  minerals  inflowing  into  my  feet  brought  up  the  vibra- 
tions into  the  expanses  of  my  own  frame.  I  then  became 
indignant,  though  in  a  righteous  manner,  at  the  wrongs  which 
children  sufier,  and  went  back  to  Earth  in  a  state  of  mother- 
like solicitude. 

312.  On  awakening  there,  I  looked  forth  into  the  aromal 
expanse,  and  beheld  a  cloud,  interinvolved  within  itself,  con- 
taining fire,  which  journeyed  westward  and  settled  upon  the 
ground.  Out  of  the  cloud,  wrapt  in  fire,  came  forth  One  as  a 
man,  and  said  to  me,  '^  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father,  and  thy 
father^s  fathers ;  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Almighty.^^  I 
cried  to  Him,  ''  Lord  Jesus,  give  me  victory ;  I  beseech 
Thee  give  me  victory,  that  I  may  become  wholly  disintegrated 
from  the  terrestrial  elements  which  corrupt  and  destroy,  that 
Thy  perfect  work  in  me  may  be  accomplished.''^  I  had  great 
boldness  in  approaching  Him,  for  I  seemed  held  up  between 
the  two  world- souls  of  Mars  and  our  own  globe.  He  breathed 
upon  me,  and  spake,  saying,  "  Receive  My  Spirit,  with  power 
to  be  continued  into  ultimates." 

313.  I  then  looked  around  me,  and  in  the  same  aromal  ex- 
panse beheld  congregating  vapours,  cloud  mingled  with  fire. 
Out  of  each  cloud  stepped  forth,  as  to  the  spirit,  trans-terres- 
trial men,  and  they  cried  aloud,  "  Lord,  Lord,  take,  we  be- 
seech Thee,  demagnetised  earth,  and  let  it  be  the  beginning 
of  a  demagnetised  place  for  little  children.''  I  then  received 
instructions  from  Him  concerning  the  means  and  measures  to 
be  taken  to  institute  relief  for  infantile  humanity. 

314.  Soon  after,  lying  upon  my  bed  in  the  night,  voices 


IGS  ABC  AN  A   OF  CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

were  heard  in  tlie  aromal  atmosphere  producing'  vibrations  in 
the  epigastrium.  Then  came  a  cokl  hand  hiid  upon  the  same 
region.  I  felt  it  as  a  sohd  substance.  The  hand  was  drawn 
into  me,  resolving  into  spheruk^s  of  light,  each  of  which  was 
a  Kttle  hand.  But  these  in  turn  were  taken  into  the  circula- 
tions, and  distributed  until  thej  were  felt  within  each  of  my 
own  hands,  fingers  within  fingers,  and  in  the  hands  were  in- 
numerable infantile  voices  praising  the  Saviour.  In  these 
voices  I  recognised  the  tender  and  sacred  intonations  of  the 
fays.  After  this  I  was  again  awakened  in  the  night  watches 
by  songs  of  exultation,  and  beheld  infantile  spirits,  numbering 
thousands,  floating  as  a  cloud  above  me.  This  cloud  descended 
and  touched  the  earth,  and  I  beheld  coming  forth  from  it  the 
sacred  woman,  the  Virgin,  encompassed  by  children,  while 
a  soft  and  sweet  dehght  emanated  from  the  respirations.  I 
arose  as  a  man  in  spirit,  and  went  forth  toward  her,  and  she 
said,  "  Oh,  servant  of  my  God,  I  am  sent  to  visit  you.  Till 
the  times  of  the  revealed  Apocalypse,  such  visitations  have 
not  taken  place."  I  then  knelt  as  she  knelt,  in  the  midst  of 
the  kneeling  train,  and  breathed  into  her  lungs  while  a  deep 
sleep  came  upon  me. 

315.  When  I  awakened  I  saw  a  wicker  cradle,  containing' 
as  it  were  the  spirit  of  a  new  born  child  wrapt  in  swaddling' 
clothes,  but  it  was  not  a  child,  being  composed  entirely  of 
seed.  Wkile  kneeling  over  it  in  speechless  wonder,  I  per- 
ceived that  I  was  in  the  Celestial  Heaven.  The  desert  Earth 
lay  far  below.  Looking  down,  the  red  Hght  which  encom- 
passed it  gradually  parted,  and  the  archetypal  form  of  a  habi- 
tation for  open  breathing  children  in  the  midst  of  a  garden, 
shone  visibly.  Then  came  forth  a  woman,  folded  in  a  white 
robe,  from  this  archetypal  house,  demagnetising  from  her 
extended  palms  a  space  of  terrestrial  soil.  I  saw  that  the 
archetypal  mansion  and  its  enclosure  were  designed  for  gii-ls 
alone,  and  over  the  door  was  written  these  words  in  golden 
fire,  "Industrial  School  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  New 
Life."  As  my  vision  descended  a  Kttle  farther,  I  beheld  a 
man,  though  really  it  was  an  angel,  watering  the  soil.  His 
left  hand  was  concealed  behind  his  back  at  first,  but  soon 
after  he  reached  it  forth.     It  contained  a  precious  tahsman,  or 


SEC.  315—318.]         THE   APOCALTFSE.  169 


talismanic  jewel,  inscribed  in  letters  of  the  Word.  There  came 
out  of  the  soil,  as  he  watered  it,  magnetic  serpents  in  great 
numbers,  and  also  noxious  reptiles  of  many  varieties.  Casting 
the  jewel  into  their  midst  thej  were  benumbed  by  it,  but  soon 
burst  into  flame  and  became  magnetic  ashes ;  these  he  hid  in 
a  pit. 

316.  I  then  saw  in  the  Heaven,  close  to  me,  a  white  robed 
boy,  who  had  come  forth,  partaking  of  his  morning  meal, 
bread  and  white  grapes.  A  little  priest  he  seemed  to  be,  as 
to  his  genius.  Reverently  offering  thanks  when  the  meal  was 
over,  he  knelt  for  a  little  while.  I  then  saw  him  again  in  a 
second  attitude,  with  innocent  wonder  perusing  a  little  book 
of  instruction.  My  heart  melted  within  me  with  an  inexpress- 
ible tender  feeling,  and  I  cried,  "  O  Lord,  wilt  Thou  not  Thy- 
self adopt  means  that  Thy  little  ones  on  Earth  may  be  saved  ?'^ 
Then  the  Lord  stood  again  and  spake,  "  Thy  soul^s  request  is 
granted.     I  will.^^ 


317.  The  doctrines  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  hateful  and  infernal 
as  they  are,  who  would  not  fight  against  them  to  the  death  ? 
All  Heaven,  as  one  living  child  in  whom  the  Lord  abides, 
fights  mightily  to  overcome  them.  All  Hell,  as  one  fierce 
serpent  wherein  embodied  evil  is  enthroned,  struggles  to 
increase  and  extend  them.  I  solemnly  adjure  all  parents 
to  whom  these  things  come,  in  the  name  of  the  living  God, 
to  ponder  them  in  their  hearts. 

Chap.  ii.  16. — "Repent;   ok  else   I   will   come   unto   thee 

QUICKLY,    AND    WILL    FIGHT    AGAINST    THEM    WITH   THE    SWOED 
OP    MY    MOUTH.^^ 

318.  ^^  Repent,"  signifies,  that  when  the  man  of  the  type 
we  are  considering  is  tempted  and  di'awn  aside,  in  the  weak- 
ness of  his  first  states,  there  is  opportunity  ofiered  to  re- 
trieve his  error.  "  Else  I  will  come  unto  thee,"  signifies,  a 
divine  judgment  appointed,  in  which  the  Lord  will  appear 
to  him  as  a  Divine  Man,  through  the  third  Heaven,  descend- 
ing to  cut  ofi"  his  spirit  and  cast  it  into  the  Hell  of  those  who 
have  denied  the  faith.    "Quickly,"  signifies,  the  suddenness  of 


170  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  ii. 

the  judgment  wliicli  will  come  to  those  who  violate  the  inward 
injunctions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  a  time  and  mannci'  unfore- 
seen, and  cast  them  to  their  doom.  "  And  will  fight,"  signi- 
fies, that  the  Lord  within  the  bodies  of  the  unfaithful,  will 
breath  forth  a  sharp,  consuming,  subtle  flame  through  the 
bowels,  which  will  destroy  physical  life.  ''Against  them," 
signifies,  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  against  those  who  tempt, 
as  well  as  against  those  who,  being  tempted,  fall,  and  return 
not  to  their  first  love.  "  With  the  sword  of  my  mouth," 
signifies,  in  this  place,  internal  respiration  of  all  men  who 
indulge  in  evil.  Those  who  mock  and  blaspheme  the  Holy 
Ghost,  in  denial  of  the  truth  of  internal  respiration,  are  in  the 
most  danger  of  being  penetrated  by  the  divine  fire  through 
the  lungs,  which,  descending  into  the  natural  organs  of  re- 
spiration, will  sever  the  spirit  from  the  flesh. 

Chap.  ii.  17. — "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what 
THE  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches;  To  him  that 
overcometh  will  I  give   to  eat  of  the   hidden  manna, 

AND  WILL  GIVE  HIM  A  WHITE  STONE,  AND  IN  THE  STONE  A 
NEW  NAME  WRITTEN,  WHICH  NO  MAN  KNOWETH  SAVING  HE 
THAT    RECErVETH    IT." 

319.  When  internal  respiration  is  fully  established  in  the 
man  of  the  ultimate  heavenly  type,  our  dear  Lord  and  Saviour 
speaks  to  him,  in  a  deep  sonorous  voice,  which  rolls  throHgh- 
out  the  internals  of  the  mind,  as  if  it  were  the  tone  of  melo- 
dious and  vibrating  thunder,  or  the  deep  swelling  of  the  sea. 
Sometimes  these  thunderings  will  proceed  from  societies  in  the 
Ultimate  Heaven,  wherein  new  unfoldings  or  revelations  from 
the  bosom  of  the  Word  are  descending.  He  will  be  caught 
up  in  the  spirit  and  listen  to  those  things  which  the  delighted 
angels  reverently  and  joyfully  receive.  Embodying  those  truths 
in  active  humane  employments,  he  may  perhaps  imagine  that 
during  this  interval  he  is  losing  something  of  the  fine  quality 
of  that  mental  state  in  which  the  glorious  Divine  Voice  was 
thus  made  audible.  But  to  the  contrary,  every  step  which 
takes  him  in  seeming  farther  from  the  Heaven  into  which  he 
was  lifted,  and  deeper  into  the  terrible  things  of  human  inver- 
sion, if  he  is  faithful  to  his  trust,  but  prepares  him  for  another 


SEC.  319—321.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  171 

season  of  nobler  and  deeper  intromission,  a  festal  day  of  jubi- 
lee and  triumph,  when  having  been  found  faithful  in  a  few 
things,  he  will  be  made  ruler  over  many ;  and  descend  again 
into  his  terrestrial  avocations,  more  richly  freighted  with  the 
divine  afflatus. 

320..  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,^^  signifies,  the  new  man  of  this 
variety,  uplifted,  to  receive  the  Divine  Voice  in  this  majestic 
form  descending  through  the  Ultimate  Heaven.  It  also  sig- 
nifies, the  fineness  and  delicacy  of  the  new  auditory  organs, 
both  in  the  ultimate  heavenly,  and  thence  into  the  natural 
degree.  He  will  hear  the  flowers  laugh  around  his  feet,  detect 
the  spirit  of  melody  in  the  song  of  birds,  and  listen  to  the  lyric 
whisperings  of  the  aromas  of  the  earth,  apd  the  tones  in  which 
the  electric  currents  waft  their  message.  This,  however, 
implies  a  condition  of  great  advancement  in  the  organs  of  the 
new  creation.  ''^Let  him  hear,"  signifies,  the  Lord's  voice  made 
audible  to  him,  as  he  enters  into  combat,  by  direction  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  with  the  evils  that  invade  and  infest  mankind. 
With  a  calm  boldness,  utterly  astonishing  to  his  enemies,  he 
will  meet  the  perils  that  inevitably  beset  his  path,  and  when 
mobs  rage  around  him  and  the  demons  incite  them  to  his  des- 
truction, fixed  in  the  new  harmony,  he  will  direct  his  ear  to  the 
reception  of  the  words  that  he  shall  speak.  In  the  earlier  stages 
of  the  new  respiration  many  will  find  words  to  halt  upon  the 
tongue ;  but  great  gifts  of  speech,  full  and  majestic  as  the  vast 
rivers  of  the  western  continent,  will  outflow  in  the  latter  periods 
of  their  time.  Such  oratory  the  world  has  never  heard,  nor  has 
it  a  conception  of,  for  its  fire,  tenderness  and  searching  power. 

321.  '''What  the  Spirit  saith,"  here  signifies,  oratory  from 
the  Lord.  Man  in  his  inverted  state  is  of  all  creatures  the 
most  artificial.  He  is  trained  to  speak  from  the  false  self 
which  he  acquires  and  developes  during  years  of  contact  with 
the  world's  inversions.  Even  on  the  death-bed  the  false  self 
often  dictates  the  very  prayers.  Men  die  as  they  have  lived, 
masked  in  simulations.  The  great  deeps  are  broken  up  in  the 
soul  and  in  its  life,  through  the  new  respiration;  but  men  must 
fight  their  way  to  new  powers  of  utterance  from  the  Lord,  by 
combating  in  the  heart  against  infernal  spheres.  The  new 
eloquence  will  be  a  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  through  the  deeps 


172  ARCANA   OF  CUBISTIANITY.  [cnAr.  ir. 

of  tlic  new  affections  of  the  man.  Those  who  attempt  its 
imitation  will  disastrously  fail.  "Unto  the  churches/'  sig- 
nifies, in  this  place,  the  gift  of  the  presentation  of  the  Word 
through  a  mediatorial  priesthood,  opened  in  the  new  respira- 
tion. "  To  him  that  overcomcth/'  signifies,  the  last  state  of 
the  ultimate  heavenly-natural  man.  Eespiration  is  full  and 
perfect.  Every  organ  of  the  body,  every  vohtion  of  the  will, 
is  subject  to  its  superior  sway.  The  Lord  directs  him  in  the 
fulness  of  the  breaths.  He  has  no  longer  a  divided  will,  an 
understanding  whose  faculties  conflict,  a  body  wherein  the  old 
and  the  new  sensations  contend  for  mastery.  His  state  is 
sweet  and  genial  as  spring,  ample  and  ardent  as  summer, 
fruitful  as  the  varied  autumn,  which  holds  concealed  within  its 
breast  the  promise  of  a  nobler  year. 

322.  There  are  seven  particulars  here  to  be  mentioned,  con- 
cerning this  state  and  its  felicities.  First,  the  new  man  attains 
to  a  condition,  wherein,  after  the  tree  of  the  first  natural  life  has 
fallen,  the  new  natural  soul,  natural  spirit,  and  thence  natural 
body  in  its  essence,  in  a  trinity  of  love,  wisdom,  and  oper- 
ation,.from  the  Lord,  deinonstrate  theii'  presence  through  the 
frame.  The  natural  soul  received  through  the  natural  parentage, 
is  the  first  form  of  the  disorders  of  the  body,  and  contains  in 
first  principles  every  disease  which  the  family  stock  has  exhi- 
bited throughout  the  generations.  It  is  a  reservoir  for  the 
insanities  of  the  will.  The  natural  mind  thus  inherited,  is 
essentially  self-deceived  and  idolatrous,  prone  to  imagine  itself 
a  spark  of  Deity ;  beholding  in  the  universe  a  mirror  for  the 
reflection  of  its  own  glory ;  believing  all  greatness  to  be  latent 
and  inherent  within  itself.  In  this  respect  it  is  a  reservoir  of 
the  infatuations  of  all  its  progenitors.  The  natural  body,  in 
first  principles,  being  the  form  in  which  the  natural  soul  and 
mind  cohabit,  as  in  a  bed-chamber,  is  also  the  house  in  which 
the  vain  passions,  developed  in  this  manner,  bear  sway.  The 
tree  is  known  by  its  fruits,  the  parents  by  their  off'spring,  the 
principles  by  their  manifestation.  After  internal  respiration  has 
been  for  a  time  established,  there  are  judgments  (for  which  refer 
to  index) .  When  the  natm'al  soul  which  has  been  inherited 
receives  a  death  wound,  the  new  natural  soul  in  which  the 
Lord  more  immediately  flows,  being  first  let  down  in  embryo 


SEC.  322—324.]         THE  APOCALYPSE.  I73 


to  dwell  within  it ;  at  the  same  time  the  old  natural  mind 
receives  its  death  wound,  and  the  new  natural  mind,  fashioned 
for  the  Lord's  presence,  in  ultimates,  but  also  in  embryo,  is  let 
down  to  be  within  it.  The  inmost  and  the  finest  form  of  the 
natural  body,  from  which  all  the  natui*al  organs  are  extended 
and  developed,  is  let  down  in  the  same  act,  and  in  its  embryo 
form  is  within  the  old  natural  organisation,  extending  into  it, 
the  new  members  into  the  old. 

323.  When  the  fays,  who  ascend  from  the  hidden  fire  and 
stone  world,  have  conspu-ed  with  the  actions  of  the  newly 
breathing  man  for  a  certain  series  of  times,  the  natural  body 
approximates  to  a  last  state.  It  is  honeycombed  without  and 
within,  and  like  a  tree  without  sap,  stands  ready  for  the  fall. 
Sensation  recedes  from  the  surfaces,  the  day  is  a  long  di^eam, 
the  night  a  mystery  not  here  to  be  spoken  of.  The  pulse  waxes 
feeble  and  is  almost  motionless,  the  respirations  alone  indicate 
a  mightier  presence  than  that  of  death,  the  impressions  of  the 
world  recede.  The  natural  soul,  which  is  old,  the  natural  mind, 
its  associate,  like  a  feeble  and  decrepit  pair,  whom  death  sur- 
prises, feebly  gasp  in  each  other's  arms,  and  the  natural  body 
sympathises  with  and  represents  their  state.  It  is  now  of  the 
Lord  to  determine  whether  His  servant  shall  commence  a  new 
existence-cycle  in  the  natural  world,  or  painlessly  and  trium- 
phantly depart. 

324.  If  the  former,  the  spring  of  a  new  youth  is  felt  within 
the  body ;  a  bloodless  body  almost  before,  by  degrees  it  be- 
comes mysteriously  vigorous.  The  pulse's  throb  with  a  living 
element ;  the  veins  are  full ;  the  voice,  at  first  sweetly  in- 
fantile, rises  and  becomes  awful  as  from  the  harmonic  earths 
of  the  universe  where  sin  is  not.  But  the  man  rises  not  as 
he  laid  down ;  death  resigned  his  trophies  and  heaped  them 
at  the  feet  of  the  conqueror.  He  cannot  now  die,  except 
through  catastrophic  occurrences,  and  in  the  Lord's  permission, 
until  a  new  cycle  has  been  fulfilled.  He  is  in  the  internals 
of  his  natural  being,  as  Adam  before  the  fall.  The  organic 
frame  of  the  selfhood,  inherited  through  the  long  course  of 
progenitors,  including  the  natural  soul  and  natural  mind,  are 
dissipated  and  removed.  The  new  spirit  now  lives  within  the 
structm'e-  of  a  new  natural  soul  and  mind,  continually  enlarg- 


174  ABOANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  ii. 


ing  themselves  into  the  visible  body,  which  is  their  own. 
When  a  conjugial  pair,  husband  and  wife,  have  both  entered 
bodily  into  the  new  creation  through  this  process,  though 
potency  has  left  the  one,  and  the  period  of  child-bearing  is 
over  with  the  other,  they  may  receive  of  the  Lord  the  pro- 
creative  gift  of  begetting  children ;  mighty  men  and  women, 
majestic  in  a  noble  beauty  of  righteousness  and  truth,  inherit- 
in  o-,  with  modifications,  into  a  vast  affluence  from  the-  un- 
fallen  worlds.  These  offspring  receive  a  natural  soul,  spirit, 
and  the  first  principles  of  a  natural  body,  exempt  from  ori- 
ginal sin  or  the  evil  proprium ;  born  to  internal  respiration 
from  the  womb,  though  there  is  a  struggle  at  first  between 
the  two  breathings,  (fenerations  thus  arise,  and  the  begin- 
nings of  a  new  race. 

325.  Third,  by  means  of  the  universal  conspirations  of  the 
organs  of  the  natural  soul  and  natural  mind  with  the  Celestial  and 
Spiritual  Heavens,  vast  accessions  of  respiration  are  received, 
as  indeed  from  the  beginning  of  a  new  infancy.  But  this 
involves,  as  they  are  married,  the  beginning  of  the  descent  of 
new  aromal  creations  in  a  majestic  unbroken  series.  More  of 
this  under  the  head  of  aromal  creations  in  the  new  age. 

326.  It  involves,  fourth,  an  open  sensation  of  the  whole  orb, 
as  one  unitary  form,  pulsing  and  respiring  in  the  sphere  music 
of  the  universe.  At  this  period  a  large  portion  of  the  immense 
body  of  the  vitality  demanded  for  the  exigencies  of  the  new 
system,  is  taken  in  through  the  soles  of  the  feet,  which  are 
media  for  the  absorption  of  the  life-essence  from  the  earth. 
The  whole  body  feeds  through  new  and  living  pores,  and  is 
nourished  by  the  astral  system.  Man  realizes  now  that  he  is 
one,  through  his  body,  with  the  universal  series  of  orbs  in 
stellar  space.  He  pulsates  in  his  joyous  circulations,  to  the 
rich  arterial  gladness  of  the  people  of  the  suns. 

327.  When  this  new  condition  thus  demonstrates  its  pre- 
sence and  its  glory,  a  fifth  state  is  superinduced.  Seven 
degrees  of  aortal  respiration,  one  after  the  other,  enable  the 
lover  of  the  Lord  to  feel  his  nerve  spirit,  unfolded  into 
seven  continuous  degrees,  pavilions  of  fairy  life.  He  moves 
surrounded  by  a  hymning,  joyous  multitude,  and  drinks  in  re- 
freshment through  their  continuous  inspirations.      Brain-life 


SEC.  325—329.]         THE   APOCALTFSE.  175 

now  assumes  a  new  form.  Tlie  division  of  the  brain  into 
seven  continuous  degrees  now  follows.  With  it  vast  acces- 
sions of  knowledges. 

328.  Finally,  discreted  from  his  natural  body,  which  still 
remains  an  adjunct,  he  is  imperishably  invested  with  such  of 
the  spirits  of  the  primates  of  his  own  form  as  are  to  serve  for 
the  nucleus  of  the  final  body  of  the  spirits,  composed  of  the 
spirits  of  the  ultimates,  which  he  is  to  assume  in  the  general 
resurrection.  The  spirits  of  the  primates  are  the  atomic  men 
who  constitute  the  superior  degree  of  the  natural ;  the  spirits 
of  the  ultimates,  those  who  constitute  its  extensions.  Dis- 
creted consciously  from  his  natural  body,  though  yet  inhabit- 
ing it,  the  spirits  of  the  primates  are,  at  will,  withdrawn  from, 
or  centered  in,  the  corpuscular  spherules,  which  are  their 
nature-bodies.  In  this  new  condition,  access  is  afforded  to 
new  degrees  of  knowledges  in  the  Heavens,  sealed  at  the  pre- 
sent time.  "  Will  I  give  to  eat,"  signifies,  joy  prepared  for 
those  who  attain  to  this  condition.  "  Of  hidden  manna,"  sig- 
nifies, of  what  quality  that  joy  is  composed.  Conjugial  arcana 
occur  first,  herein.  There  are  seven  statements  preluding 
others  at  another  place. 

329.  The  procreative  ability,  under  conditions  spoken  of 
previously,  is  permanently  established.  Consequent  on  respi- 
ration, the  descent  of  the  soul-germ  which  is  to  be  instituted 
in  the  form,  is  made  known  of  the  Lord,  and  the  future  man 
is  received,  wafted  down  into  the  male  body  through  threefold 
Heaven.  The  husband  now  says,  '^  I  have  gotten  a  man  from 
the  Lord."  The  Lord  now  intromits  the  two  into  an  inefiable 
condition,  the  sanctification  of  the  nuptial  rites  having  been 
previously  the  result  of  years  of  purification.  The  celestial, 
spiritual,  and  ultimate  degrees  of  the  internal  love  of  the  wife 
for  the  husband,  and  the  husband  for  the  wife,  are  opened  into 
consciousness,  continued  through  the  new  natural-soul  and 
spirit,  into  the  natural  form.  In  beautiful  conspiration  of  nup- 
tial love,  from  inmosts  to  outmosts,  while  the  Holy  Ghost 
breathes  through  both  of  them  in  conjunction,  the  soul-germ 
is  transmitted  to  the  receptacle  prepared  for  it  in  the  chaste 
womb,  and  there  is  joy  in  Heaven,  and  felicity  in  nuptial 
societies  of  angels  there. 


17(5  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.         [cuap.  ii. 

330.  The  wife  uow  feels  tlie  Holy  Ghost  descending  into 
the  embryo,  from  its  initiament;  and  her  whole  frame  conspires 
with  the  action  of  the  Lord,  who  forms  within  her  the  terres- 
trial vestibule  for  the  temple  of  the  new  man.  The  trine  of 
the  heavenly  mothers,  (see  A.  of  C.  1, 1.  343)  through  whom  the 
soul- germ  descended,  are  now  with  her,  and  she  consciously 
with  them.  The  atomic  men  delivered  into  the  order  of  the 
new  creation,  felicitously  build  its  grand  and  varied  organs. 
The  earth  feeds  it  from  her  inmost  part.  The  fays,  both  those 
of  the  aerial  spheres  and  of  the  mystic  realm  of  inner  fire  and 
stone,  delightedly  engage  in  storing  gifts  within  its  organic 
receptacles.  The  great  world-soul  wafts  to  it  her  purified 
essence.  It  receives  also  from  the  essence  of  the  sun-soul. 
Celestial  angels  not  only  assist  through  the  breaths,  in  the  duo 
arrangement  of  its  will-organs,  but  also  in  the  groupings  and 
combinations  of  the  primates  of  matter  in  the  natural  soul- 
form.  Thus  the  spiritual  angels  work  in  the  body  of  the 
mind,  and  the  ultimate  angels  in  the  inner  parts  of  the  most 
extreme  physical  structure. 

331.  Again,  such  is  the  character  of  the  holy  embryo,  that  it 
leaps  and  thi'ills  with  conscious  joy  to  the  new  harmony  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Lord,  which  descends  to  fashion  it  for  uses  in 
His  new  kingdom.  Born  out  of  the  course  of  the  natural 
movement  which  now  exists,  it  is  encircled  in  a  continuous 
nuptial  embrace.  The  process  of  the  discretion  of  the  atomic 
forms  from  both  father  and  mother  is  continued  to  the  period 
of  birth,  for  its  complete  incarnation  is  through  the  breaths  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  Its  body  thus  becomes  a  living  harmony  of 
the  new  creation. 

332.  The  life  world,  love  world,  form  world,  essence  world, 
and  harmony  world  of  the  Heaven  of  theii*  degree.  Celestial, 
Spiritual,  or  Ultimate,  during  this  period  are  open,  and  within  the 
inmost  appears  the  Lord.  So  exquisite  is  the  construction  of 
the  organs  of  the  new  child,  that  all  five'worlds  of  the  Heavens 
directly  conspire  to  make  it  perfect,  as  a  vessel  for  Him  who 
is  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end.  Of 
such  a  child  it  may  be  said,  that  who  receiveth  one  such 
receiveth  in  it  our  Lord  Himself;  and  blessed,  yea  thrice 
blessed  the  womb  that  bare  it,  and  the  paps  that  gave  it  suck, 


SEC.  330—335.]         THE    APOCALYPSE.  177 

and  blessed  tlie  nation  over  whose  landscape  shines  its  beam- 
ing natal  star.  All  worlds  make  one  worlds  as  all  heavens 
one  heaven,  and  all  unfallen  men  compose  one  consciously- 
interwoven  humanity,  as  all  the  angels  one  universal  angel- 
hood. The  life-action  of  the  conjugial  associates,  on  unfallen 
worlds,  interflowing  through  the  nuptial  sphere  of  its  terrestrial 
parents,  maintains  in  it  an  exquisite  vibration,  from  part  to 
part.  It  becomes  thus,  in  a  sense,  a  child  of  the  universe. 
Over  its  unborn  faculties  what  seven-fold  efiulgencies  of  inter- 
woven light,  archangelic,  angelic,  and  solar-terrestrial,  inter- 
weave their  wedded  harmonies  !  Its  body  is  an  earthly  para- 
dise in  miniature,  and  not,  as  in  the  inverted  infantile  frame,  a 
microcosm  of  the  disorders  and  diseases  that  take  hold  on  hell. 

333.  Further  conjugial  mysteries  are  as  follows  :  Joy  is  main- 
tained throughout  the  beauteous,  teeming  being  of  the  wife, 
by  the  interplay  of  nuptial  societies  in  the  varied  Heavens. 
Two  in  one,  they  consciously  respire  in  the  nuptial  blessings  of 
the  angels,  and  drink  their  joy.  The  conjunction  of  ultimates 
is  the  result  of  a  conjunction  from  inmosts,  and  the  loves  are 
wedded  in  the  soul.  It  should  be  said  here,  that  none  who  are 
in  states  of  passion  are  able,  so  much  as  from  afar,  to  behold 
the  lucid  purity  of  this  thrice-blessed  state.  The  two  begin  to 
appear  in  the  distance  to  angelic  vision  as  rosy  infants  crowned 
with  flowers  ;  they  are  also  visible  in  correspondences  as  tender 
lambs. 

334.  All  procreations  of  ideas  from  the  internal  to  the 
natural  intellect  of  the  husband,  are  solely  now  through  bosom 
conspiration  with  the  wife.  There  are  endearments  of  a  nuptial 
nature  from  will  to  will  and  mind  to  mind,  and  thence  fi*om 
person  to  person  in  the  heavenly  degree  by  correspondence  and 
respiration.  There  is  conjunction  hence  fronj  will  to  will  and 
mind  to  mind  to  the  endearments  of  person  with  person,  in  the 
natural  degree.  It  is  now  said  of  them  with  modifications  grow- 
ing out  of  the  unfinished  state,  that  they  neither  marry  nor  are 
given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in  Heaven. 
From  the  heavenly  to  the  natural  they  have  become  one  flesh, 
and  are  no  more  known  as  the  twain,  but  as  the  one. 

335.  Nuptial  joys  of  the  new  order  are  attended  with  the 
Lord^s  visible  presence,  and  the  interblending  which  is  natural. 


178  ABGANA    OF   GHBISTIANITY.  [chap.  if. 


grows  iuto  a  two-in-onc  respiratiou  from  tlic  Lord,  by  wliich 
they  arc  lifted  consciously  into  tlioir  Heaven ;  first,  into  its 
outer  or  harmony  world,  but  tbence,  througb  orderly  stages 
into  its  inner  provinces.  It  is  tbus  that  in  the  nuptial  sphere, 
and  in  the  love-relations  of  the  two  in  one,  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  established,  and  the  will  of  God  obeyed  on  Earth  as 
it  is  in  Heaven.  Perpetual  youth  now  irradiates  the  human 
eye,  which  brightens  through  the  changes  of  the  cycle,  and 
seven  degrees  of  nuptial  Hght  make  plain  a  seven -fold  interior 
creation  within  the  husband  to  the  wife,  and  within  the  wife 
to  the  husband,  in  which  they  seem  to  each  other  as  animated 
paradises ;  and  the  haloes  blend  and  interblend,  and  there  are 
four  rivers  of  aromal  sweetness  from  the  heart,  and  the  re- 
presentative forms  within  them  are  paradisal,  and  the  tree 
of  life  is  in  their  inmost  essence ;  and  over  against  the  outer 
defence  of  the  seven-fold  sphere  which  encompasses  them,  is 
the  angel  with  the  flaming  sword. 

336.  Procreations  of  ideas  are  first  from  the  Lord  by  means 
of  the  internal  sense  of  the  Divine  Word.  Whether  celestial, 
spiritual,  or  ultimate,  can  alone  be  set  forth  when  the  seminal 
vessels  of  the  understanding  are  impregnated  through  the 
descent  of  divine  truth  into  the  will.  When  the  ovarium 
within  the  understanding  has  yielded  up  its  impregnated  ovum, 
it  is  absorbed  into  the  womb  of  the  natural  mind.  Thence,  after 
many  changes,  it  is  taken  into  the  body  of  the  natural  brain ; 
speech  then  ensues,  and  the  truths,  one  by  one  are  committed 
to  writing  or  discourse.  Impregnations  of  this  sort  are  in 
three  degrees ;  tiniths  concerning  the  Celestial  Heaven  are  in 
a  degree  of  the  mind  called  Ephesus  in  celestial  correspond- 
ence. Truths  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven  are  in  the  degree  of 
the  mind  called  Smyrna,  and  truths  of  the  Ultimate  Heaven, 
in  a  third  degree  designated  as  Pergamos.  The  three  degrees 
of  the  brain  are  encompassed  by  an  orb-hke  expanse  of  organs, 
containing  truths  pertaining  to  the  world-souls,  the  souls  of 
suns  and  of  universes. 

337.  It  is  also  in  this  degree  of  the  brain  that  knowledges 
are  received  concerning  the  universal  principles  of  the  starry 
scheme.  The  especial  series  of  truths  concerning  the  flora 
and  fauna,  together  with  the  human  kingdoms  of  the  unfallen 


SEC.  336—339.]  TSE   AFOCALTPSK  179 

worlds^  is  generally  contained  within  organs,  wliicli  separately 
are  interinvolved  tlirougliout,  and  form  an  external  expanse 
in  tlie  midst  of,  but  let  down  a  little  below,  tliat  degree  of 
form  pertaining  to  the  world-souls.  Below  this  still  is  another 
degree  interinvolved  throughout  the  latter,  and  in  all  the 
interstices  of  the  latter,  devoted  to  knowledges  of  the  fay 
race.  And  interinvolved  throughout  the  last,  in  the  most 
minute  of  forms,  but  below  it  still,  that  region  of  the  mental 
body  appropriated  to  the  knowledges  of  the  atomic  men. 
The  last  four  are  called  respectively  in  the  correspondences  of 
the  ultimate  sub-degree  of  the  celestial  sense,  Thyatira,  Sardis, 
Philadelphia,  and  Laodicea.  Until  a  mind  discreted  from  the 
inverse  movement  of  the  fallen  creation  was  provided  of  the 
Lord,  means  in  the  natural  world  did  not  exist  for  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  celestial  sense  in  its  ultimate  degree,  from  the 
letter. 

338.  The  man  of  the  ultimate  heavenly-natural  type  serves 
as  the  matrix  for  the  insemination,  descent,  and  giving  forth 
of  the  truths  contained  within  the  Divine  Word,  in  its  ulti- 
mate heavenly  sense.  This  sense  has  never  yet  been  made 
known.  Men  of  this  class  will  arise  in  the  appointment  of 
Providence  to  charm  and  bless  mankind  with  harmonic 
knowledge.  This,  also,  is  signified  in  the  sentence,  "  hidden 
manna." 

339.  '^^And  will  give  him  a  white  stone,"  signifies,  that 
when  the  victor  in  the  regenerate  career  attains,  through 
opened  respiration,  to  the  new  life-tree,  spoken  of  elsewhere, 
the  fays  of  the  stone  and  fire-world,  through  whom  the  world- 
soul  herself  ultimates  atomic  crystalhsations,  marvellously  re- 
build the  general  mineral  structures  of  the  form.  "  And  in 
the  stone  a  new  name  written,""  signifies,  the  perception  of 
the  new  man  through  the  new  harmony  of  the  respirative  move- 
ments, of  a  vast  series  of  Divine  truths  hidden  in  nature.  The 
new  name  is  that  of  the  Lord,  which  is  given  to  the  man,  with 
a  sufiix  denoting  his  own  inmost  relation  and  private  jjlace 
in  the  afiections  of  Deity.  It  denotes,  therefore,  inscrutable 
arcana.  The  name  is  inscribed  in  the  interinvolved  forms, 
which  constitute  the  body  of  the  new  creation.  "  Which  no 
man  knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth,"  signifies,  the  powers 

M   2 


180  ARCANA    OF   GRBISTIANITT.        [chap.  ii. 

given  with  the  name,  private    and  peculiar  to   each,    but    of 
which  the  knowledge  is  hidden  in  the  depths  of  consciousness. 

Chap.    ii.  18. — "And    unto    the   angel    op    the   church   in 

ThYATIRA   WRITE;     ThESE    THINGS    SAITH    THE    SON   OP    GoD, 
WHO     HATH     His    eyes    LIKE     UNTO    A    PLAME    OP    FIEE,    AND 

His  feet  are  like  pine  brass.'" 

340.  Harmonic  civilization  is  treated  of  in  this  verse.  It 
refers  to  a  fom'th  type  of  mankind  to  be  unfolded  in  the  new 
Christian  age.  As  to  their  bodies,  they  will  consciously  respire 
in  conjunction  with  the  world-souls  of  the  universe,  but  their 
respii-ation  \Anll  be  continued  from  the  internal  to  the  natural 
degree  of  the  mind,  as  spoken  of  in  all  that  pertains  to  the 
Ephesian  Church,  or  man  of  the  type  called  celestial-natural. 
Their  respiration,  so  far  as  it  is  in  conjunction  with  world- 
souls,  will  be  from  the  orbs  that  represent,  in  time  and  space, 
the  qualities  of  the  Celestial  Heaven.  "  Angel,^''  here  signi- 
fies, this  new  type  of  composite  breathing  men,  in  their  first, 
or  solar  series.  "  Church,'^  signifies,  all  of  the  seven  series 
into  which  the  type  will  be  divided.  "  Thyatira,^'  signifies, 
seven  degrees  of  composite  civilization,  which  they  will  perfect. 
There  are  seven  things  hereafter  to  be  spoken  of  concerning  solar 
men  of  this  degree.  This  earth  is  to  become,  in  the  new 
creation,  a  type  of  the  universal  order  into  which  the  universe 
flows  through  the  Incarnation  and  Glorification  of  the  Lord. 

341.  It  involves,  in  the  first  series,  a  new  mineral,  vegetable, 
and  animal  kingdom,  of  which  the  types  are  extant  in  the 
cause  world.  The  earth,  at  the  present  time,  is  pregnant  with 
a  second  mineral  kingdom.  Every  type  peculiar  to  the  igneous 
era  is  provided  with  a  successor.  The  new  mineral  kingdom 
will  rise  through  the  old,  in  cold,  electric  flame,  shooting  in 
solid  jets  of  crystal,  without  displacement  of  the  stratifications 
which  exist,  in  silence,  and  unaccompanied  by  catastrophic 
throes.  Its  development  will  not  be  a  process  of  instants, 
but  of  generations.  It  is  impossible  to  delineate  in  words 
the  matchless  splendour  of  the  new  creative  mineral  basis, 
which  shall  serve  to  enrich  and  glorify  that  orb  of  space 
honoured  by  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  man.  In  ribbed 
shafts  and  arches   of  stony  foliage,  transcending  the  noblest 


SEC.  340— 343-]         TEE   APOCALYPSE.  181 

ideas  of  architecture,  rising  througli  tlie  massive  eartli-forma- 
tions  of  preceding  eras,  and  growing  -with,  a  slow  harmonv, 
obedient  to  tlie  Master's  will,  man  shall  behold  on  Earth  the 
literal  representatives  of  houses  not  made  with  hands,  that 
await  the  just  in  Heaven.  We  are  to  look  upon  the  Saracenic, 
Byzantine,  Eomanesque,  and  Gothic  types  of  architecture,  as 
well  as  those  more  ancient,  as  purely  typical  and  as  denoting 
man's  struggle  to  outline  the  unseen. 

342.  The  earth  has  been  left  in  the  unfinished  state,  with 
here  a  chain  of  wedge-like  pinnacles,  here  a  scooped-out  void 
of  cavernous  depressions ;  vast  regions  that  breed  malaria,  bor- 
dered by  thin  strips  of  belting  and  firm  alluvian,  or  else  with 
sand-wastes  that  swelter  beneath  a  burning  sun-glare ;  and 
still  in  another  quarter  arctic  solitudes  of  everlasting  ice  and 
snow ;  because  man's  inverted,  struggling,  partially  restored, 
partially  demonised  state,  required  the  huge  terrestrial  symbol- 
ism. Heat  and  cold,  their  changes  and  distributions,  depend  at 
last  on  influx.  A  divine  ray  might  fuse  the  silver  candlestick 
upon  a  table,  without  aSecting  the  temperature  of  the  room ;  or 
illuminate  one  half  of  the  chamber,  leaving  the  rest  in  opaque 
night;  or  consume  the  alternate  pages  of  a  manuscript,  leav- 
ing the  rest  untouched ;  or  crystallise  scattered  coin  and  orna- 
ments into  the  candelabra,  with  no  derangement  in  the  economy 
of  objects  the  most  fragile  and  in  nearest  proximity.  It  is  the 
design  of  our  Lord  to  make  this  earth  the  very  mirror  of  His 
resplendent  providence.  A  stream  or  current  of  divine  influx 
resting  on  the  summit  of  the  Alps,  or  any  similar  mountain 
chain,  would  melt  the  snows  and  clothe  the  loftiest  pinnacles 
with  perpetual  verdure ;  nor  would  this  afiect,  save  by  slight 
modifications,  the  plains  below.  Again,  touching  a  point  of  vast 
glacier  beds,  like  the  Mer  de  Glace,  a  slow,  copious  river  would 
discharge  from  it,  and  in  due  time  the  original  valley  appear 
clothed  in  richest  emerald.  By  the  same  process  the  inhospit- 
able depths  of  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic  terra  firma  would  quietly 
disrobe  themselves  of  the  ice  garments  they  wear,  the  earth 
appearing  again  as  in  the  era  prior  to  their  present  state. 

343.  Storms  also  are  strictly  obedient  to  the  motion  of  influx ; 
so  that  the  divine  breath  in  its  new  harmony  beniguantly 
appoints  to  end  the  present  reign  of  tempests  and  tornadoes. 


182  ARCANA    OF   CHBISTIANITT.         [ckap.  ii. 

succeeding  tlicm  by  gc^ntlo  and  invigorating,  but  never  de- 
structive airs.  The  animal  tribes  arc  hieroglypbics,  typifying, 
in  a  modified  form  tlie  divine  ideas.  By  tlio  operation  of  influx 
from  tlie  Lord  eacli  miglit  either  change  its  present  character, 
or  evolve,  by  generation,  species  and  genera  prefigured  in  the 
symbol  of  which  it  is  the  particular  embodiment.  In  decline 
and  degradation,  the  animal  sympathises  with  man;  but  he  is 
to  follow  the  human  family  as  it  becomes  youthful,  paradisal, 
and  complete.  This  holds  good  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
The  cereals,  also,  in  a  modified  manner,  typify  a  succession  of 
divine  ideas.  Under  the  operation  of  influjc,  the  partial  ■  type 
assimilates  continually  to  the  full  image  of  the  archetype.  A 
shock  of  corn  might  thus  be  succulent,  and  hold  a  secretion  of 
the  saccharine  principle  in  its  stalks,  and  bear  a  seven-fold 
series  of  the  ultimate  type  of  bread  on  one  stem.  By  the  same 
law  the  astringent  acorn  might  literally  become  a  loaf,  contain- 
ing within  itself  such  qualities  of  the  divine  sweetness  and 
virtue  as  the  tree  represents.  The  pumpkin  might  refine  to  a 
delicious  vegetable  manna,  and  all  the  varied  products  of  the 
vegetable  world  contain,  not  alone  aromal  food  for  man,  but 
within  it  an  element  from  the  threefold  Heavens. 

344.  So,  once  more,  the  mineral  is  a  rude  shell,  typifying  at 
present  but  an  ultimate  degree  of  the  Lord's  goodness  to  man. 
Of  its  capacities,  under  the  operation  of  influx,  hints  are 
afibrded  in  the  historical  portions  of  the  Word.  The  cold 
flame  within  the  farnace  burns  not  the  Hebrew  childi'en ;  but 
mighty  men  are  consumed  by  the  fierceness  of  its  emanations. 
The  billows  bear  up  the  human  person  of  the  Lord,  and  fall 
into  curves  of  quiescent  beauty  as  He  breathes  upon  them. 
The  loaves  expand  into  food  for  thousands  ;  the  charmed  fish 
contains  within  its  mouth  a  coin.  The  molecules  of  matter 
obey  incarnate  Deity.  Those  molecules,  as  we  have  seen,  are, 
in  their  inmosts,  atomic  men.  At  His  past  commands  they 
stood  arrayed  in  serried  ranks  to  form  the  first  types  of  the 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms.  They  obey  the 
seven-fold  harmony  proceeding  through  His  attributal  spirits 
which  are  within  Himself.  This  day  did  a  stream  of  that  har- 
mony touch  Mont  Blanc  or  Chimborazo,  the  atomic  men  who 
stand  fast  in  the  atoms,  holding  all  things  in  coherence,  might 


SEC.  344—347.]         TSE   APOCALYPSE.  183 

change  their  combinations,  and  so  before  sunset  the  mountain 
disappear.  Were  the  Lord  to  speak  in  the  proceedings  of  this 
new  harmony,  and  say  through  any  organ  or  channel,  "  Oh 
mountain,  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,"  the  atomic  spirits  would 
hearken  and  obey,  and  the  mountain  be  resolved  at  His  bidding 
into  least  particulars. 

345.  I  saw,  when  present  through  the  body  of  the  nerve  spirit, 
in  the  inner  mineral  kingdom  of  the  globe,  the  unborn  basis 
of  the  new  Earth.  How  glorious,  how  wonderful  the  sight ! 
There,  in  first  principles,  stood  the  latent  stone,  while  through 
all,  a  low  murmur  announced  the  language  in  which  the  atomic 
spirits  held  communion  with  each  other.  "  For  brass,''  said 
our  Lord,  through  the  prophet,  "  I  will  bring  gold,  and  for 
stones  iron.  I  will  make  thy  officers  peace  and  thine  exactors 
righteousness.''  The  gold  waits  to  ascend.  I  saw  the  primates 
of  its  particles.  They  will  ascend  at  His  commandment,  and 
stand  embodied  in  refulgent  ore.  I  heard  the  primates  of  the 
iron.  Their  multitudinous  host  await  His  whisper;  the  new 
minerals,  typical  of  the  seven-fold  series  of  the  attributes,  are 
in  their  place. 

346.  "  These  things  saith,"  refers  to  unfoldings  concerning 
harmonic  civilization.  They  pertain  especially  to  the  new 
metals,  minerals,  and  all  the  products  of  the  vegetable  and  the 
animal  world.  "  The  Son  of  God,"  signifies,  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh,  who,  having  glorified  His  human  form,  distributes 
through  it  the  harmonies  of  the  new  creation.  "  Who  hath 
His  eyes  like  unto  a  flame  of  fire,"  signifies,  the  heat  of 
His  divine  love,  descending  to  soothe  the  asperities  of  climate, 
to  create  an  harmonic  temperature  for  the  globe,  and  to  prepare 
for  human  use  the  inhospitable  regions  of  the  mountainous 
districts  of  the  temperate  latitudes  and  also  of  the  polar 
circles.  "And  His  feet  are  like  fine  brass,"  signifies,  the 
new  metallic  kingdom,  distributed  through  the  divine  harmony 
ascending  in  His  glorified  Divine-Human  form. 

Chap.  ii.  19. — "  I  know  thy  woeks,  aot?  charity,  and  service, 

AND   FAITH,   AND   THY     PATIENCE,    AND    THY   WOEKS  ;    AND   THE 
LAST    TO  BE  MORE    THAN   THE   FIEST." 

347.  "  Works,"  signifies,  obedience  rendered  by  the  new 


184  ARCANA    OF   CURISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

man  after  he  is  cstablislied  in  the  full  state  of  internal  respira- 
tion. How  swift,  how  dclig-htsomc,  how  unquestioning  the 
service  of  the  new  man  !  There  is  nothing  divided  in  him,  the 
very  body  thrills  through  the  atomic  men,  with  instant  joy  to 
hear  the  Lord,  and  distributes  its  particles  according  to  His 
commandment  in  the  new  harmony.  The  cheerful  fays  dis- 
tributed through  the  proceeding  sphere,  and  involved  in  all  the 
actions  of  the  person,  absorb  His  influence  within  the  breast, 
and  bow  their  faces  to  the  earth  in  lowly  homage.  Their  eager 
feet  are  swift  to  run  upon  the  messages  of  the  Word,  and  all 
their  life  its  celebration.  The  will  clasped  within  its  under- 
standing, thrills  in  marriage  union,  drinking  in  refreshment 
through  the  breath  of  Deity,  and  grows  impregnate  from  His 
infinite  ideas.  The  understanding  lives  by  faith,  and  ceasing 
to  reason  in  the  self-derived  intelligence,  adopts  for  truth  all 
that  it  perceives  as  good.  It  widens  in  the  circuit  of  the 
brilliant  knowledges  that  pertain  to  its  degree,  and  holds 
within  itself  a  myriad  of  living  thoughts  which  derive  their 
attributal  qualities  from  the  Divine  Spirit.  The  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.  Either  the  subversive  principle, 
typified  by  closed  respiration,  conquers  the  re-creative  princi- 
ple, typified  by  returning  internal  open  respiration,  or  the 
latter  preponderates,  and  the  former  by  degrees  is  slain.  All 
dies  that  is  opposed  to  its  antagonist  in  the  completion  of  the 
state,  in  either  case.  If  good  triumphs,  the  afiections  of  evil  in 
the  will,  the  thoughts  of  falsity  in  the  understanding,  their 
organized  results  in  the  spiritual  person,  decease.  The  sub- 
versive and  destructive  creations,  born  of  falsity  and  evil,  and 
representing  death  and  hell,  are  expelled  from  the  nervous 
essence,  the  work  proceeds  throughout  the  natural  frame  until 
nothing  remains  to  cast  out  or  extirpate. 

348.  But  as  all  the  floral  families  spring  from  geographical 
centres,  so  the  families  of  the  new  creation  spring  from  hmnan 
centres.  Men  learn,  sympathetically,  to  respire  from  internals 
to  externals  by  involuntary  conspiration  with  the  respirations 
of  those  in  whom  the  new  order  has  been  established.  So  the 
unconsciousbreathing  action  of  the  new  man, sleeping  or  waking, 
goes  forth  to  human  beings  approximating  to  the  same  state, 
and  by  sympathy  of  lungs  with  lungs,  strugghng  natures  are 


SEC.  348—351.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  185 

respirationally  new  born.  Tliere  is  a  procession  through  the 
breath,  of  fay  forms  which  pass  in  this  manner  from  lung  to 
lung  throughout  the  world.  As  individuals  begin  to  enter  into 
the  new  respiration,  the  opened  organic  spaces  in  the  natural 
degree  of  the  breathing  organs  are  taken  possession  of  by 
fay-souls  who  represent,  in  ultimates,  Divine  innocency.  New 
organs,  of  which  they  are  the  builders,  are  instilled  into  the 
organic  spaces  of  the  organs  wliich  precede.  Every  new  man 
who  thus  breathes  is  builded  forth ;  and  in  turn,  through  his 
unconscious  respiratory  action,  the  fay  world  proceeds  to  act  as 
the  agent  in  the  re-creactive  process  in  others. 

349.  "Works,"  also  signifies,  in  this  place,  the  conscious 
action  of  the  new  man,  seven  particulars  of  which  follow. 
He  casts  out  demons  from  the  bodies  of  the  obsessed.  This  is 
effected  as  follows :  The  Lord  breathes  out  through  him  an 
invisible,  subtle  flame,  which  after  it  has  taken  full  effect, 
arrests  respiration  in  the  demon.  Thought  ceases,  conscious- 
ness is  suspended,  the  organs  fall  dormant  and  as  dead.  The 
persecutor  becomes,  for  the  time  being,  as  a  stone,  during 
which  condition  he  is  incarcerated  within  a  place  of  confine- 
ment which  the  Lord  provides. 

350.  Second ;  he  liberates  the  minds  of  human  beings, 
whom  demons,  without  obsessing  the  body,  have  reduced  to 
captivity.  The  Divine  breath  goes  forth,  clothing  itself  with  a 
body  in  the  finest  parts  of  nature,  elaborates  a  structure,  and 
through  the  nerve  spirit  is  absorbed  into  the  body  of  the  per- 
son to  be  relieved,  distributing  its  vitalising  contents  thence 
throughout  the  nervous  circulations,  until  they  ascend  into  the 
organs  of  the  cerebrum,  where,  in  the  series,  they  cast  out  the 
infinitesimal  forms  of  impurity  and  falsity  by  means  of  which 
the  evil  spiiit  works. 

351.  There  is,  third,  a  descent  of  the  Divine  breath  through 
them,  which  breaks  up  such  states  of  slavery  as  magnetic  men 
in  the  flesh  have  induced  upon  their  victims.  In  this  case  the 
Divine  breath  assumes  a  body  for  itself,  which  is  still  more 
ultimate,  and  winning  its  way  through  the  dense  mephitic 
masses,  which  encompass  and  pervade  the  subjugated  person, 
it  gathers  them  together,  rolling  them  up  as  a  scroll,  and 
dissolving  them  by  the  intensity  of  the  redeeming  fire. 


ISO  AECANA    OF   CHIilSTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

352.  It  arrests,  in  tlio  fourtli  place,  the  operations  of  those 
wandering  spirits  who,  as  vampires,  prey  upon  the  bodies  of 
mankind.  The  breaths  go  forth,  and,  ultimated  into  a  fine 
aromal  essence,  flow  between  the  vampire  and  his  victim.  In- 
stead of  inhaHng  the  aerial  principle  from  the  one  he  feeds 
upon,  the  Divine  breath  inflows  and  he  is  forced  to  inspire 
it.  He  flies  terror-stricken,  burning  with  internal  heat.  The 
body  of  the  magnetic  substance  which  clothes  his  spirit-form 
is  rapidly  enveloped  in  billowy  fire,  and  is  stripped  from  him  so 
that  he  is  cast  out  of  nature  into  the  subterranean  "World  of 
Spirits. 

353.  By  it,  in  the  fifth  place,  the  bodies  of  the  good  are 
vitalised ;  the  soft,  mild  breath,  surcharged  with  healing,  gently 
woos  its  way  into  the  sufiering  frame,  distributing  new  life  to 
the  nervous  essence  throughout  the  physical  structui'es ;  and  the 
vapours  and  miasms  which  engender  disease,  and  which  contain 
infinitesimal  larvae  productive  of  decay  and  death,  are  driven 
out  and  dissipated.  The  organs  respond  to  the  benignant  im- 
pulse, and  the  wheels  of  life  resume  once  more  their  play. 

354.  Sixth,  it  visits  the  victims  of  prepossession,  enchanted 
though  demons  to  desire  nuptial  unions  with  such  as  are 
inaccessible  to  them,  or  who  would  prove  unmeet  associates. 
Both  for  the  male  and  female  sex  is  this  good  work  performed. 
When  prepossessions  are  by  means  of  -charms,  talismans,  and 
magnetic  objects  in  general,  it  restores  the  object  to  its  natural 
condition  by  expelling  the  infernal  substance,  which  has  been 
injected  into  it  from  below.  It  gently  absorbs  from  the  spirit 
and  also  from  the  person,  the  death-dealing  magnetism  by 
means  of  which  the  demon  who  has  wrought  the  prepossessions 
maintains  his  sway.  It  should  be  mentioned  here  that  pre- 
possessions of  this  kind  are  often  wrought  without  the  one  in 
whose  behalf  they  are  exerted  being  conscious,  or  indeed  will- 
ing to  take  part  in  them.  It  matters  not  to  the  fiend  whether 
the  one  whose  image  he  would  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the 
yielding  or  desiring  person  is  good  or  evil.  It  is  enough  for 
him  to  imagine  that  results,  prejudicial  to  peace  of  mind,  can 
be  brought  about.  The  wafted  breath  in  many  instances  per- 
forms a  twofold  work;  it  divides  from  itself,  and  while  one 
element  or  essence  remains  with  the  prepossessed  person,  restor- 


SEC.  352—357.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  187 

ing  tiie  faculties  to  their  normal  action,  the  other,  as  a  shaft  of 
Hghtning,  strikes  down  the  demon  who  pursues. 

355.  Finally,  the  Divine  breath  which  thus  descends  and  is 
incorporated  into  the  elements  of  the  earth,  in  the  last  ex- 
tremity closes  the  terrestrial  career  of  such  as  make  war  against 
the  beloved  of  the  Lord  who  seek  to  serve  Him  in  the  new 
creation.  It  does  this  by  arresting  the  action  of  the  heart. 
After  this  is  accomphshed,  the  breath  returns,  restoring  the 
elements  through  which  it  has  descended,  to  their  incorporate 
place.  Through  internal  respiration,  therefore,  the  seven-fold 
series  of  labours  here  enumerated  are  designed  to  be  wrought 
out.  Let  it  be  taken  notice  of,  that  whoever  may  be  the  agent, 
whether  of  high  or  low  degree,  the  whole  work,  from  inception 
to  consummation,  belongs  to  the  Lord,  and  by  Hiiii  is  carried 
on. 

356.  '^'' And  charity,^'  signifies,  organic  relations  existing  be- 
tween the  new  celestial-natural  man,  respiring  also  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  world- soul  of  our  orb  and  of  many  earths  and  suns, 
through  conspiration  with  whom,  the  mighty  works  which  he 
is  made  use  of  to  accomplish  in  the  world,  are  carried  on.  The 
fays  who  live  in  the  aerial  spaces  and  extenses  of  the  celestial 
systems  of  unfallen  men,  however  remote  in  space  be  the  orb 
which  is  their  habitation,  when  a  certain  stage  in  the  death  of 
the  selfhood  is  reached,  are  wafted  forth  in  pairs  and  com- 
panies, and  in  the  swiftness  of  the  cerebral  light  are  led  into 
the  inhabitant  of  oui'  earth  who  begins  to  receive  the  new 
creation.  With  every  heart-throb  of  brotherly  kindness  and 
charity  experienced  by  the  unfallen  man  of  the  harmonic  orb, 
to  the  man  of  the  new  creation  upon  our  orb,  some  precious 
increment  of  divine  substance  descends  through  his  respira- 
tions, and  is  contained  within  his  own  person,  uutil  sent  forth 
by  an  opening  of  the  breath  of  one  into  the  breath  of  the 
other. 

357.  Vast  arcana  begin  here  to  be  seen.  The  happy,  joyous 
fays,  sporting  in  the  human  air,  experience  in  themselves  a 
sympathy  for  the  terrestrial  man,  who  begins  to  revive  in  the 
new  life ;  as  those  who  journey  into  a  far  country  they  bid 
farewell  to  their  kindred  and  to  their  father's  house,  and  are 
conducted  into  the  stranger  habitation,  carrying  with  them 


188  ABCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

the  peculiar  quality  of  the  bosom  life  in  whicli  tlicy  have  been 
formerly  inspherod.  Initiated  into  their  new  home,  they  be- 
come domesticated  in  it,  and  live  to  promote  the  uses  to  which 
it  is  devoted;  conspiring  with  a  SAvcet  consent  in  the  universal 
motion,  and  warring  against  evil  in  the  impulse  communicated 
by  the  divine  breaths  which  descend  into  it.  Eeplenished 
thus,  and  enriched  by  innocent  and  beauteous  impersonal 
bretkren,  who,  though  in  space  insignificant,  are  powerful,  as 
forms,  for  the  reception  and  distribution  of  heavenly  poten- 
cies, the  new  man  wars  mightily  to  enfranchise  and  redeem 
his  race. 

358.  After  the  old  natural  soul  has  begun  to  perish,  a  vast 
enlargement  occurs  in  all  the  plenitudes  of  the  body.  Wlicre 
before,  through  sympathy  and  correspondence,  one  fay  could 
find  a  place,  ten  thousand  now  may  have  room  and  locality. 
At  first,  their  work  is  confined  to  combat  against  infinitesimal 
living  creatures  bred  from  evil  passions,  and  injected  from 
the  Hells,  which  have  found  a  lodgment  within  the  system. 
When  this  is  done,  peace  is  established  within  the  human  space 
inhabited  by  them.  The  Holy  Spirit  then  descends  through  a 
series  of  breaths,  encompassing  the  man  with  the  first  degree 
of  a  protective  aura,  which  becomes  to  the  happy  fays  involved 
landscapes  wherein  they  dwell.  But  out  of  this  and  through 
it,  that  inmost  flame  of  the  Divine  presence,  kindled  in  the 
centre  of  the  personality,  shines  with  lasting  glory,  and  is  to 
them  what  the  sun  is  to  our  mundane  sphere.  In  it  they  see 
All-Father's  face,  and  drink  rapture  and  vigour  from  its 
enlivening  and  death-dispersing  rays.  When  this  process  of 
extension  is  made  permanent  thus  far,  the  fays  who  have  here- 
tofore been  engaged  in  the  various  combats,  enter  into  rest 
and  peace,  engaging  in  the  composite  labours  of  the  harmonic 
civilization-sphere,  living  in  the  glory  and  beauty  of  an 
infinitesimal  Eden. 

359.  "  Charity,''  signifies,  again,  such  things  as  the  new 
man  accomplishes  in  the  bodies  of  earth's  inhabitants,  through 
fay  work.  If  his  use  be  that  of  a  teacher  of  the  Word,  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  imparts  through  the  breaths  its  mighty 
influence,  clothes  its  proceeding  rays  as  they  go  forth  with 
the  subtle  human  element  in  which  the  fays  exist,  dispersing 


SEC.  358—361.]         TRE   APOGALTPSM  189 

it  tlirougliout  huge  places  of  assemblage.  Prior  to  this^ 
however,  from  illustrious  minds  iu  tlie  perception  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  internal  senses  of  the  Word  upon  the  har- 
monic orbs,  solar  and  planetary,  the  fays  who  correspond 
to  the  combatant  pi'inciple  in  the  Divine  mind  against  evil 
and  its  inversions,  go  forth  and  occupy  the  outermost  space 
in  the  fay  realms  of  the  new  man.  As  the  glory  of  God 
through  the  Divine  breath  descends,  it  becomes  to  them  a  sun- 
litten  space  in  which,  moving  forth,  they  address  themselves  to 
the  work  for  which  they  are  empowered.  The  Divine  Spirit, 
through  the  spoken  Word,  penetrates  the  receptive  and  the 
contrite ;  touching  the  conscience  and  rousing  up  the  latent 
affections  for  divine  truth  and  charity  within  the  will.  At  this 
the  demons  endeavour,  by  inflowing  into  the  infinitesimal 
organic  forms,  which  are  evil,  to  suppress  the  state  of  humilia- 
tion and  reception,  and  to  induce  obstinacy,  increduHty,  and 
heart-hardness.  But  the  fays  do  battle  against  the  embodied 
aifections  of  evil,  into  which  the  demons  have  instilled  their 
virus,  slaying  multitudes ;  while  the  individual  thus  assisted 
feels  mountains  of  earthiness  rolled  away. 

360.  "  Charity,^'  also  signifies,  the  introduction  of  celestial 
literature  and  art  thi^ough  men  of  this  type,  who,  bodily  upheld 
by  the  world-soul,  and  spiritually  in  conjunction  with  the 
Celestial  Heaven,  produce  lyric,  epic,  and  dramatic  poetry,  a 
varied  romance,  true  to  the  spirit  of  the  celestial  humanity,  or 
develop  a  new  school  in  pictorial  art.  "  Charity,^'  signifies, 
also,  that  men  of  this  type,  through  insensible  respiration,  will 
absorb  a  deadly  virus  from  the  Hells,  by  means  of  which 
demons  at  the  present  tirae  are  preparing  the  way  for  the 
seven  last  plagues.  But  this  virus  will  harm  them  not,  being 
neutrahsed  by  the  breath  which  they  receive  from  the  Lord. 

361.  Many  noble  works  in  the  more  durable  arts  will  arise 
among  those  who  are  of  this  quality.  The  vast  genius  of 
Benvenuto  Cellini,  though  warped  through  self-service,  and 
contracted  through  vice  and  debauchery,  and  by  participation 
in  the  cm-rent  madness  of  his  time,  yet  represents,  with  these 
great  exceptions,  a  something  of  the  style  of  genius  which 
such  will  possess.  But  the  mind  of  CeUini  was  a  hovel,  com- 
pared to   the   palatial   structures  in  the  new   understanding 


190  AECANA    OF   GHBISTIANITT.  [chap.  ti. 

wliicli  tlieso  will  exliibit.  They  are  under  a  copious  influx 
from  tlie  Celestial  Heavens,  tlirough  tlie  world-souls  of  the 
the  suns.  Cellini  was  an  egoist,  but  these  will  be  men  of  the 
rarest  humility,  doing  all  things  for  the  Lord,  and  esteeming 
themselves  simply  as  agents  for  the  outworking  of  the  inspira- 
tions of  the  artist  God. 

3G2.  "And  service,"  signifies,  the  new  agi'iculture  to  which 
another  variety  of  new  men  of  this  genius  will  be  devoted. 
The  whole  world  will  eventually  be  underdrained  and  sub- 
soilcd, — provinces  occupied  by  evil  nationalities  excepted — its 
earths  chemically  reduced,  its  whole  substance,  so  far  as  need- 
ful for  agricultural  pursuits,  prepared  for  the  Divine  ends,  with 
an  art  that  emulates  and  imitates  the  fine  culture  of  the  har- 
monic orbs.  The  Great  Mother,  the  world-soul,  though  im- 
personal, delights  to  impart  a  rich  rejuvenating  essence  to  all 
of  the  new  order  who  seek  to  redeem  the  noble  agricultural 
art  from  savageness  and  from  a  mercenary  spirit.  When  the 
field  becomes  the  altar,  and  the  husbandman  the  priest,  and 
the  products  of  the  season  a  tribute  to  the  All-bountiful,  that 
His  merciful  ends  may  be  fulfilled,  the  world-soul  will  inflow, 
and  men  will  live  through  a  century  of  delightful  and  genial 
activity,  passing  away  at  last  as  does  the  golden,  setting  sun. 

363.  It  also  signifies,  another  variety  of  the  same  genius ; 
Shepherds  in  mountain-lands.  The  sierras  both  of  the  eastern 
and  western  continents  will  yet  behold  their  slopes  adorned 
with  a  pastoral  race,  simple  in  habit  and  delighting  in  a  round 
of  beautiful  harmonic  festivities.  Arcadia,  pictured  by  the 
poets,  shorn  of  all  impurities,  and  replete  with  the  innocencies  of 
the  celestial  angels,  will  appear  with  man.  The  care  of  flocks 
to  men  of  open  respiration  wiU  afibrd,  in  the  new  age,  a 
dehghtfal  preparation  for  the  subsequent  labours  of  religion 
and  the  State.  The  lonely  man  who  lives  for  ends  of  sei"vice 
in  companionship  with  the  gentle  domesticated  animals,  breath- 
ing the  pure  air  of  hills  and  mountains,  who  bares  his  bosom 
to  the  winds,  and  through  his  feet  takes  in  the  juices  of  the 
rocks,  meets  the  invisible  spirits  of  an  impersonal  kind,  through 
whom  admittance  is  obtained  into  the  natural  temple  of  Deity. 
For  descriptions  of  impersonal  spirits  in  the  Heavens  and 
upper  Spiritual  World  see  A.  of  C.  I.  1,  33.       To  culture  the 


SEC.  362—365.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  191 

mind  iu  sucli  fine  knowledges,  books  are  insufficient.  Internal 
respiration  must  return,  and  tlie  selfhood  pass  away,  and  the 
false  kabits  of  corrupt  society  be  bravely  put  aside,  and  prayer 
and  faitk  and  purity  and  honour  and  self-sacrifice,  with  all 
their  gentle  train,  lead  forth  the  child  of  genius  into  com- 
munion with  the  whispering  leaf  and  the  talking  stream.  To 
such  the  dryad,  the  oread,  the  nymph  of  the  vale  and  the 
hill  and  the  fountain  prove  no  fable.  The  universe  which 
God  has  made  is  richer  than  we  dream. 

36.4.  The  illustrious  merchant  princes  who  founded  and 
aggrandised  the  lordly  houses  of  Genoa,  Florence,  and  Venice 
directing  their  attention  at  once  to  the  increase  of  knowledge, 
the  embelHshment  of  their  respective  countries  with  the  beau- 
tiful arts,  the  patronage  and  the  sustentation  of  genius,  and 
the  enrichment  and  freedom  of  the  State,  afford,  though  in 
that  dim  and  distant  manner  spoken  of  before  in  the  case  of 
Cellini,  dubious  points  of  resemblance  whence  to  sketch  the 
lofty  and  magnanimous  minds  of  the  new  age,  of  the  quality 
next  under  consideration.  These  are  pivots,  on  whose  enterprise 
shall  revolve  the  wheels  of  the  new  commerce.  The  world 
awaits  the  true  commercial  dignity,  nor  will  it  wait  in  vain. 
Ships  sailed  by  direct  inspiration  will  yet  traverse  the  oceans, 
and  in  the  new  type  of  master-mariners  appear  the  true 
chivalry  of  the  sea.  Far  more  readily  than  the  vessel  obeys 
the  tiller,  will  their  spirits  yield  obedience  to  the  touch  of 
God.  These,  also,  will  respire  in  the  open  manner  through 
the  celestial  in  conjunction  with  a  breath  continued  through 
the  world-souls  of  the  universe. 

365.  "  And  faith,"  signifies,  that  all  such  will  be  elevated 
at  last,  through  obedience,  above  all  resistant  influences  and 
powers  j  holding,  fast  the  pivotal  doctrine  of  the  new  man,  the 
absolute,  implicit  obedience  of  the  spirit  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 
"  And  thy  patience,"  signifies,  triumphs  which  they  will 
achieve  through  this  absolute  unwavering  obedience.  These 
may  be  generally  inferred  by  all  that  has  been  said  before. 
"And  thy  works,"  here  signifies,  new  labours.  Their  fii-st 
toils  will  be  simplistic.  In  whatever  profession  they  may  be 
engaged  during  this  time,  they  will  respire  in  conjunction  with 
societies  of  angels  who  are  in  simplistic  uses  in  the  skies. 


192  ABCANA    OF    CIIBISTIANITY.  [cuap.  ii. 

Nothing  is  permaueut,  except  the  general  fact  of  obedience, 
in  the  state  of  the  open  respiring  man.  He  inherits  a  future 
of  which  no  man  knoweth,  nor  can  he  predicate,  except  so 
far  as  the  use  is  given,  the  state  of  to-morrow  from  the  con- 
dition of  to-day ;  nor  even  this  except  in  a  remote  manner. 
He  is  apt  to  imagine,  at  first,  that  like  the  man  of  closed 
respiration,  he  may  fulfil  a  round  of  employments  during  life, 
with  little  change  either  of  thought,  sensation,  or  conduct ;  nor 
is  it  without  much  experience  that  he  discovers  how  much  the 
Lord  delights  in  practising  upon  every  side  of  character,  bring- 
ing out  through  unexpected  conditions,  requiring  new  faith 
and  new  faculty,  those  qualities  of  the  personality  which,  in 
the  customary  uses,  were  becoming  inert.  How  much  the 
Lord  abominates  pedantry,  and  delights  in  spontaneity  and 
freedom,  can  hardly  be  expressed  in  words. 

366.  Exercises  are  provided,  as  the  divine  breath  begins  to 
institute  new  motions  in  the  frame,  for  reviving  disused  mus- 
cular powers.  God  is  the  divine  gymnast,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
moving  in  the  faculties  restores  free  play,  relieving  from 
cramped  attitudes  and  restrained  postures,  not  alone  the  body 
of  the  mind,  but  of  the  person.  The  man  of  the  type  now 
under  review  will  unfold  an  immense  muscularity,  whether  com- 
pacted "UTLthin  a  body  of  small  dimensions,  or  extended  into  one 
of  magnificent  proportions.  The  present- race  of  narrow-chested, 
piping  devotees,  painfully  contracted  into  pews,  are  nar- 
rowed by  the  discom'se  which,  in  skeleton  Hues  of  opinion, 
claims  to  represent  the  Word.  With  lean  angular  mental  sys- 
tems, stripped  of  the  flesh  of  life,  they  tend  painfully  to  morose- 
ness  and  savageness  over  the  creeds  which  they  recite,  the 
psalms  they  sing,  and  often  the  prayers  that  formally  they 
utter.  The  men  whose  religion  has  a  keen  frostiness  in  its  air, 
that  nips  the  young  growths  of  spontaneous,  heartfelt  aspira- 
tion to  the  Creator,  will  vanish,  like  incubi,  from  the  breast  of 
the  sleeper,  when  the  young  morning  releases  him  from  the 
brooding  vampire. 

367.  The  drilled  soldiers  of  Theology,  who  are  only  distin- 
guished from  the  inglorious  herd  by  a  perception  of  routine,  by 
a  knowledge  of  how  to  keep  rank  and  file,  and,  at  the  same 
word  of  command,  to  fire  with  automatic  precision,  will  disband 


SEC.  366—368]         TSE   APOCALYPSK  193 

before  tlie  mighty  tones  of  tlie  Eternal  Spirit,  and  tlie  world 
will  know  their  place  no  more  for  ever.  The  entire  habit  of 
worship  will  undergo  a  change  when  the  pulpit  is  occupied  by- 
men  of  the  new  respiration.  Mighty  in  this  use  will  be  the 
Thyatiran  church,  when  respiration  is  established  as  a  known 
and  normal  fact.  The  tide,  which  first  is  slow  and  can  scarcely 
be  seen  to  glide  as  it  stirs  amidst  the  sluggish  human  mass, 
will  force  its  way  as  with  wedges  and  bolts  of  moving  light- 
ning. Ten  men  will  shake  a  city.  The  riveted  lightnings  of 
divine  argument,  leaping  from  the  surcharged  electric  clouds  of 
the  Holy  Spirit^s  eloquence,  a  power  revealed  from  an  infinite 
depth,  with  persuasion  and  constraining  cogency,  shall  be,  in 
every  land  where  it  breaks  forth,  penetrative  as  the  fire-cry  in 
the  dead  of  night,  but  sweet  as  the  spicy  breath  wafted  before 
the  morning.  As  this  ministry  appears,  the  Thyatiran  church 
will  be  conspicuous  in  labours ;  developing  men  of  vast  resource 
and  powerful  physique,  giants  of  the  pulpit,  to  whom  the  body 
is  a  huge  storehouse  of  vital  energies. 

368.  '^^Works,^^  also  signifies  here,  editorial  labours  through 
men  who  have  won  their  way  by  multiform  duties  and  vast 
series  of  experiences  to  the  composite  condition.  The  press 
will  be  liberated  from  its  bondage.  The  free  play  of  the  pen 
has  yet  to  come.  The  morning  article  should  be  bolder,  as  a 
sketched  outline  of  events  and  principles,  than  a  cartoon  of 
Eaflfaelle's  representative  figures.  The  man  who  writes,  breath- 
ing the  fire-breaths  fi'om  the  world-soul  of  his  planet,  and 
glancing  from  its  heart  upon  the  orbed  completeness  of  human- 
ity, whose  lungs  repeat  in  rhythmic  play  the  pulse  of  the  Celes- 
tial Heaven,  and  all  whose  mental  motions  follow  in  the  train  of 
the  vibrations  which  the  Holy  Ghost  inspires ;  who  lives  in  the 
instant  perception  of  the  divine  round  of  all  the  sciences,  and 
comprehends  the  new  harmony  of  God,  through  each  degree  of  the 
vast  series,  from  atomic  formations  to  archangelhoods  ;  who  sees 
the  fiery  floods  of  divine  arts,  philosophies  and  industries  leap- 
ing through  silent  depths  of  regenerate  natures,  to  their  terres- 
trial field,  and  writes  for  truth  and  humanity  in  this  completeness 
of  light  and  life  ;  that  man  will  be  the  representative  angel  of 
the  world^s  new  press,  and,  of  the  works  through  him  it  shall  be 
declared,  "  God  said.  Let  there  be  light :  and  there  was  light." 

N 


194  ABC  AN  A    OF   CHBISTIANITT.  [chap.  ir. 

369.  Without  open  respiration  this  is  impossible,  but  with 
it,  at  last,  as  easy  as  now  to  perform  the  common  duties  of  the 
pen.  The  hard  thing  is,  to  will  in  God,  to  have  no  will  but  His 
will ;  through  years  of  patient  struggle,  toil,  and  suffering,  to 
feel  invading  death  and  hell  seeking  to  subdue  the  will  and  in- 
tellect, and  still  to  press  on  to  the  goal  of  the  noblest  inspi- 
rations ;  to  give  one^s  self  up  wholly  to  Him  who  clothes  the 
grass  and  rays  forth  beauty  through  the  flowers.  Tlie  state  of 
newness  in  Jesus  Christ,  pei-petuated  and  consolidated  through 
the  long  series  of  given  respirations,  at  last  makes  the  indi- 
vidual adequate  for  the  performance  of  colossal  functions.  But 
men  must  be  willing,  from  the  inmost  heart,  to  be  sold  into 
physical  slavery  and  be  esteemed  all  their  days  as  the  vilest  of 
convicts,  if  their  Lord  requires,  without  a  murmur  of  regret, 
before  they  can  be  enlarged  and  glorified  in  " works ^'  like 
these. 

370.  It  may  furthermore  be  said  that  the  organization  of 
the  divine  kingdom,  or  empire,  or  cosmopolitan  theocracy  and 
commonwealth  through  this  people,  as  men  are  found  therein 
who  are  faithful  and  heroic,  and  fully  competent,  will  be  the 
most  gigantic  work,  and  involve  the  most  stupendous  series  of 
achievements  that  has  ever  been  attempted  or  carried  out  in 
the  history  of  the  world. 

371.  It  will  first  be  the  means  of  displaying  the  true  charac- 
ter of  Holy  Scripture  through  its  celestial  ultimate  degree, 
whereof  the  work  is  already  begun.  When  it  is  considered 
that  it  is  by  means  of  this  degree  that  open  respiration  is 
brought  into  the  world,  and  the  Lord's  coming  made  manifest, 
both  in  its  fact,  its  methods,  and  its  ends,  it  will  be  seen  that 
all  societies  for  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  hitherto  have  un- 
dertaken, when  compared  with  it,  but  the  shadows  of  enter- 
prises.    Yet  this  is  but  the  beginning  of  its  toils. 

372.  Through  this  people  our  Lord  restores  the  binding  and 
the  loosing  powers  ; — the  binding  power,  by  means  of  which, 
as  elsewhere  stated,  vast  legions  of  the  infernals,  as  they  rise  to 
suppress  the  di\aue  breath,  and  to  enslave  and  kill  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  race  who  are  entering  into  composite  regeneration, 
are  rendered  powerless  and  restrained  as  captives.  It  institutes 
from  first  principles  the  new  chivalry,  and  arms  every  one  of 


SEC.  369—374.]         THE   APOCALTPSK  I95 


its  rank  and  file  with  angelic  weapons.  It  makes  tlie  whole 
world,  so  far  as  it  extends,  an  entrenched  fortress,  a  fortified 
city.  It  weds  the  sword  to  the  sword  arm,  and  measures  blades 
with  Lucifer.  In  this  connection  also  it  introduces  the  loosing 
powers.  Universal  liberations  are  effected  in  the  advancement 
of  its  breaths,  and  in  the  concentration  of  its  forces.  It  holds 
in  its  constitution  those  universal  solvents  that  liberate  from 
captivity  the  imprisoned  elements  of  the  divine  affections, 
whether  as  infinitesimals  in  the  atomic  nuclei,  or  as  fettered 
nationalities  in  the  humanity  of  the  globe. 

373.  Through  it  the  fays  are  re-introduced  into  the  ex- 
panses of  the  human  constitution.  Through  it  their  kindred 
fraternal  species  descend  from  the  open-breathing  systems 
of  the  mighty  men  of  the  unfallen  worlds,  and  march  forth 
with  heroic  stimulations  and  invigorations  to  build  up  the 
emaciated  organisms  of  the  human  race.  Through  it  right- 
eousness and  justice  and  mercy,  in  their  first  principles,  re- 
appear. Through  it  the  elements  in  the  terrestrial  atmosphere 
begin  to  be  purified,  and  its  fine  forces  extend  into  soils  and 
waters.  Through  it  that  vast  infernal-natural  creation,  which 
is  called  "  Imozen,"  elsewhere  spoken  of,  begins  to  be  con- 
sumed, as  the  fii'es  of  judgment  sweep  by  their  vortices  and 
whirlwinds  into  the  aromal  space.  Through  it  the  drooping 
fauna  and  flora  of  the  world  are  interpervaded,  and  preparations 
made  for  the  final  regeneration  of  the  animal  and  vegetable, 
no  less  than  the  human  kingdoms.  Through  it,  by  degrees, 
the  wandering  spirits  infesting  the  subtle  parts  of  nature  are 
checked  in  their  marauds,  divested  of  their  potencies,  and  ren- 
dered subject  to  harmonic  sway.  In  fine,  there  is  no  disorder 
that  it  does  not  meet  and  menace ;  and  no  specialty  of  order 
that  it  does  not  endeavour  to  organize,  extend  and  lead  forth 
to  a  supreme  dominion. 

374.  But  the  Thyatiran  church,  by  the  very  necessity  of  its 
constitution,  can  only  maintain  and  extend  its  presence  in  the 
world,  by  meeting  evil  on  its  ultimate  natural  ground.  It  is 
the  pioneer,  the  forerunner,  the  herald.  It  throws  out  its  scouts 
in  a  perpetual  reconnaissance.  As  through  it  begins  the  celes- 
tial-ultimate unfolding  of  the  Word,  so  through  it  begins  the 
heavenly-natural  reorganization  of  the  individual  man ;  and  so 

N  2 


196  ARCAJiA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

through  it  begins  the  cliseutangloment  of  individuals  from  all 
spells  and  bondages  and  their  reunition  in  collective  harmony, 
At  the  present  time,  throughout  Christendom,  the  three  great 
things  are  tending  to  dissolution;  namely,  the  Church,  or  the 
religious  system;  the  State,  or  the  political  system;  and 
Society,  in  which  both  Church  and  State  are  embodied,  and 
which  is  the  universal  industrial  and  monetary  system.  At 
one  end  of  the  line  all  faiths  are  shattered,  and  at  the  other 
all  properties  and  tenures  made  insecure.  As  the  human 
race  bursts  its  ancient  enthralments  and  limitations,  it  tends 
to  a  point  where  the  ancient  equilibrium  of  forces  exists  no 
more. 

"  Democracy,  a  flame,  devours 
The  shrines,  the  palaces  and  tx)wers, 
Ruling  in  awful  judgment  hours." 

375.  The  world  is  full  of  the  ruins  of  attempts  at  the  em- 
bodiment of  something  different  from  the  lowest  and  most 
degraded  selfish  and  sensual  principle  in  associated  life. 
Christ,  by  His  constraining  presence,  kept  a  little  circle  of 
immediate  disciples  in  a  supersensual  and  unselfish  attitude. 
When  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  at  Pentecost,  these  followers 
of  the  now  risen  and  glorified  Redeemer,  seem  to  have  been 
conscious  that  the  embodiment  of  the  Christian  principle  in- 
volved new  societary  regulations.  They  were  not  the  subjects 
of  an  infallible  guidance,  as  their  own  admissions  in  the  records 
prove.  The  practical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  administration 
of  fraternal  order  and  equity,  fell  upon  them  with  appalling 
force.  Economical  disputes  first  menaced  the  integrity  of  the 
brotherhood;  and  the  complaint  arose  that  certain  "widows 
were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministrations."  At  this  point  was 
developed  the  germ  of  that  weakness  which  led  to  the  long  and 
dark  and  bloody  train  of  all  schisms,  heresies,  and  apostasies. 
The  apostles  shrank  from  this  issue,  as  they  had  faltered  twice 
before  ;  namely,  when  they  would  not  watch  one  hour,  support- 
ing by  their  active  sphere  the  agonized  human  body  of  our 
Lord  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane ;  and  as,  immediately  after, 
they  forsook  Him  and  fled,  when  He  was  betrayed  and  led  to 
crucifixion.  They  had  gathered  a  multitude  of  earnest,  faithful 
proselytes,  and  they  had  pi-eached  self-renunciation,  and  living 
and  labouring  for  one  another,  and  had  accepted  in  trust  the 


SEC.  375—377.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  197 

wealth  wLich  these  earnest,  honest  neophytes  had  poured  at 
their  feet. 

376.  The  chi'onic,  incurable  weakness  of  that  twelve  here 
betrayed  itself  again.  Possessed  as  they  were  of  many  of  the 
virtues,  as  a  body  they  were  deficient  in  the  crowning  grace. 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God,  through  His  now  Glorified  Hu- 
manity, had  descended.  They  had  taught  the  multitude  how 
to  drink  in,  and  how  to  be  filled  with  that  Spirit,  and 
loyal  and  in  good  faith  had  been  the  response.  But  they 
seem  to  have  thought  that  Christianity  could  organize  itself, 
that  this  germ  dropped  down  from  Heaven,  provided  there  were 
ground  for  it  to  fall  into,  would  become  a  tree.  They  had  not 
the  most  remote  conception  that  the  infant  body  was  entering 
upon  a  historic  course,  the  result  of  which  would  be  a  Greek 
antichrist,  a  Latin  antichrist,  an  antichrist,  in  fine,  developed  in 
the  midst  of  every  aggregation  of  believers  throughout  mankind. 
Whatever  forecast  they  possessed,  they  did  not  look  forward  to 
the  time  when  great  kingdoms  should  be  nominally  in  the  fold, 
the  heads  of  the  Church  be  drunken  rakes,  and  the  prelates 
opulent  sinecurists,  while  millions  of  the  brethren  should  be 
ground  to  powder  between  the  exactions  of  the  regal  and  of 
the  sacerdotal  power,  and  multitudes  of  the  sisters  driven  to 
prostitution  for  a  little  bread.  They  did  not  see  the  choicest 
revenues  of  kingdoms  consecrated,  generation  after  generation, 
and  their  opulence  cast  at  the  feet  of  those  who  were  to  be,  in 
the  order  of  time,  their  successors,  but  only  to  be  squandered 
afterwards  by  ecclesiastics,  elevated  into  dignity  through  buy- 
ing preferments  of  the  concubines  of  Christian  kings.  What- 
ever page  of  the  future  they  may  have  read,  it  was  not  the 
history  of  the  religious  establishment  of  Italy  or  of  Great 
Britain.  They  never  scanned  those  of  its  paragraphs  which 
sum  up  the  history  and  the  development  of  the  ecclesiastical 
principle  under  the  Christian  name  in  Spain,  or  the  slave  states 
of  America,  or  the  Dutch  and  Portuguese  East  Indies,  or  the 
French  and  Brjtish  and  Spanish  West  Indies.  But  why  enu- 
merate a  sickening  catalogue  of  abominations  ? 

377.  They  undertook  to  propagate  Christianity  without  or- 
ganizing it ;  to  wrest  men  out  of  an  old  system  without  prac- 
tically initiating  them  into  a  new  system.     They  said,  "  It  is 


198  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ir. 

not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the  Word  of  God  and  serve 
tables,  but  we  will  give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer  and  the 
ministry  of  the  Word/'  The  record  goes  on  to  state  that  they 
advised  the  brethren  to  select  seven  men  to  discharge  certain 
duties  in  respect  to  these  charities ;  that  the  saying  pleased 
the  people,  who  thereupon  made  a  choice,  whereupon  the 
apostles  praj'od  and  laid  their  hands  upon  them ;  and  that, 
practically,  ended  the  work  of  the  twelve,  so  far  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  Christianity  in  social  life  was  concerned.  Henceforth 
the  number  of  the  believers  multiplied  with  incredible  rapidity ; 
but,  in  a  more  alarming  ratio,  the  quality  of  their  faith,  the 
essential  divinity  of  their  life  deteriorated,  till,  in  a  few  centu- 
ries, the  churches  and  the  nationalities  of  the  disciples,  with 
isolated  individual  exceptions,  were  packs  of  howling  barba- 
rians ;  till  the  moral  and  affectional  and  fraternal  standards 
of  Christendom  were  below  those  of  the  Confucians  of  China,  or 
the  worshippers  of  the  Great  Spirit  in  the  wilds  of  Western 
America.  In  a  word,  they  propagated  faith  without  organizing 
it  into  social  charity,  and  into  industrial  equity,  which  is  the 
foundation  of  charity.  As  a  result,  in  spite  of  the  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  doctrinal  divisions  rose  among  themselves, 
as  the  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles  "  proves.  As  another  result, 
doctrine  became  continually  more  nebulous. 

378.  All  things  march  hand  in  hand;  the  principles  of  truths 
can  only  be  verified  and  understood  to  the  extent  in  which 
they  are  carried  out  in  practical  application.  The  apostles 
instituted  a  spiritual  work  which  led  regeneration  into  the 
spiritual  nature  of  man,  but  not  down  through  the  corporeal, 
to  all  ultimates.  As  a  result  they  retained  or  elaborated  as 
much  of  the  Lord's  truth  as  applied  to  what  they  did,  but  they 
were  unable  to  retain  and  to  preserve  in  the  Church,  or  to  em- 
body in  clear  statement,  those  principles  which  they  did  not 
teach  men  to  embody.  They  divorced,  at  tliis  point,  the 
spiritual  from  the  temporal,  the  internal  from  the  external. 
The  consequences  were  universal.  Failing  to  build  solid  work 
beneath  the  feet  of  the  disciples,  failing  to  embody  order  in 
ultimate  works,  they  left  the  door  open  for  failures  everywhere. 
They  expected  that  miraculous  gifts  were  always  to  continue. 
Mankind,  in  the  decHning  age  before  the  flood,  did  not  dream 


SEC.  378—379.]         THE   AFOCALTPSE.  199 

but  that  open  respiration  would  always  endure ;  so  the  apostles 
evidently  expected  a  potent  personal  inspiration  always  to 
endure.  In  limiting  the  area  of  their  own  works,  they  limited 
the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  How  far  they  were  respon- 
sible or  culpable  let  no  man  judge ;  but  on  the  other  hand  let 
no  man  say  that  they  were  fully  excusable.  They,  at  least  by 
indirection,  instituted  here  the  beginning  of  that  fatal  divorce 
between  the  religious  function  and  the  practical  function, 
which  has  resulted  in  the  moral  and  social  atheism  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  One  almost  hears  the  Lord  in  Spirit  repro- 
nouncing  over  them  those  touching  words,  "  Could  ye  not 
watch  one  hour  V  One  almost  sees  the  Lord  uplifted  in  Spirit 
upon  that  great  industrial  cross,  whereon  His  faith  was  to  be 
re-crucified  through  nineteen  centuries  of  inversion,  in  the 
broken  hearts  and  bleeding  bodies  of  the  innumerable  toilers 
of  the  globe  ;  sees  Him  looking  in  vain  for  those  who  ate  with 
Him  the  passover,  but  have  now  forsaken  Him  and  fled.  They 
had  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  importance  of  praying 
and  of  preaching,  as  compared  with  that  of  embodying  and  of 
organizing  the  truths  of  duty  and  the  inspirations  of  self- 
sacrifice.  They  should  have  known,  if  they  were  the  followers  of 
the  Carpenter,  that  their  Master  dared  not  preach  till  He  had 
trained  Himself  through  industrial  service.  In  a  word,  they 
shrank  from  industry,  and  in  so  doing,  the  orb  of  their  inspira- 
tion began  to  wane. 

379.  One  is  astonished  if  he  will  but  dare  to  let  himself 
face  the  question,  of  the  tremendous  failure,  in  appearance,  of 
the  most  full  and  absolute  of  all  the  promises  and  predictions 
of  the  Master,  "  These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe ; 
in  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall  speak  with 
new  tongues ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if  they  drink  any 
deadly  thing  it  shaU  not  hurt  them ;  they  shall  lay  hands  on 
the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover."  What  is  the  legitimate  deduc- 
tion from  this,  but  that  the  Lord  God  was  to  fill  with  His  Spirit 
the  aggregate^  body  of  the  new  Christian  people,  which  should 
cast  out  the  world's  diaboHsms,  and  expel  its  satanhoods,  and 
take  into  itself — yet  in  so  doing,  neutralise  and  destroy — the 
very  bulk  and  substance  of  all  its  poisons  and  con-uptions  ?  He 
did  not  predict  and  promise  that  very  soon  His  disciples  should 


200  ABCANA    OF    CUBISTIANITT.         [cuap.  ii. 

be  divided  into  great  bodies,  Orthodox  and  Arian,  cutting 
each  other's  throats,  confiscating  each  other's  properties,  and 
dooming,  so  far  as  man  might  doom,  each  other's  spirits  to 
everlasting  damnation.  Yet  He  did  His  part.  He  fulfilled 
His  promise.  He  came  again  at  Pentecost.  The  apostles  re- 
ceived those  powers,  but  received  them  subject  to  the  one  in- 
evitable condition.  Their  duty  was  to  have  endeavoured  to  have 
instituted  unity,. and  to  have  allowed  no  individual  to  have  been 
accepted  as  a  full  member  of  the  Church  of  God  on  Earth,  in 
whom  those  gifts  of  the  Spirit  were  wanting  or  deficient.  In 
a  word,  again,  they  should  have  made  slow  progress  but  sure 
progress.  There  were  two  paths  open  before  them.  They 
chose  the  one  which  at  the  first  promised  the  largest  immediate 
result.  Evidently  their  great  desire  was  to  multiply  believers ; 
they  could  not  bear  to  wait ;  they  did  not  see,  as  one  might 
infer,  that  enthusiasm  without  organization  leads  inevitably  to 
dissension  and  destruction.  Instead  of  organizing  a  militant 
host,  in  whom  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  in  His  humanity  found 
its  fulfilment,  '"^  I  in  them,  that  they  all  may  be  one,  even  as  we 
are  one ;  I  in  them,  and  Thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made 
perfect  in  one  j "  they  organized  a  body  that  from  the  begin- 
ning was  never  thoroughly  unified  or  consolidated ;  a  body 
negative  to  the  world  and  to  its  ruling  powers ;  a  body  that 
has  always  been  enslaved  through  despotisms  generated  prin- 
cipally within  itself. 

380.  Of  all  gifts,  those  which  are  spiritual  are  of  the  most 
uncertain  tenure.  The  spiritual  can  only  be  kept  as  it  is  em- 
bodied within  the  material.  One  can  see,  in  this  hght,  to  what 
kind  of  succession  the  Divine  Carpenter,  who  was  also  the 
Divine  Builder  of  the  cosmos  and  all  its  wonders,  promised 
perpetual  prolifications  of  this  divine -natural  potency.  Cannot 
the  most  superficial  reader  of  His  life  see  that,  from  the  begin- 
ning to  the  end.  He  was  simply  a  Working  Man  ?  His  very 
outermost  frame  was  built  up  as  a  sanctuary  of  indwelling  in- 
dustries. He  did  not  cease  to  labour  when  He  laid  aside  the 
axe  and  hammer ;  He  was  simply  working  on  in  the  very 
marrow  and  spirit  of  toil.  His  preaching  was  not  what  men 
now  understand  by  preaching.  The  words  that  went  out 
through  Him  were  projected  as  forms  of  the  divine  force ;  His 


SEC.  380—382.]         THE   APOCALYPSK  201 

first  workshop  was  that  of  tlie  carpenter,  but  His  latter  tlie 
body  of  humanity ;  He  simply  meant  that  His  disciples  should 
carry  on  this  work,  that  they  should  be  knit  together  as  the 
affections  were  consolidated  within  His  bosom,  or  the  sub- 
stances throughout  His  frame. 

381.  The  life  of  Christ  is  the  gospel  of  industry.  He  was 
able  to  be  an  artisan,  a  physician,  an  exerciser,  a  ruler  over 
nature,  a  teacher  and  lawgiver,  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  and  at 
last  the  universal  Redeemer,  through  the  perpetual  unition 
maintained  between  His  human  nature  and  the  divine.  By 
means  of  that  divine-human.  He  came  to  dwell  in  the  spirits 
and  bodies  of  the  disciples ;  giving  Himself,  however,  according 
to  the  planes  in  which  they  embodied  the  inspirations.  That 
kingdom  of  harmony,  which  verbally  is  contained  in  the  spirit 
of  the  apocalypse,  was  waiting  to  become  an  embodied  new 
creation  through  His  people.  The  powers  that  constitute  the 
seven  Chm'ches  were,  in  first  principles,  descending  then. 
There  were  nationalities  beyond  the  Roman  empire  whereto 
the  apostles  might  have  journeyed,  wherein  they  might  have 
gathered  the  germ  of  a  Christian  people;  there  were  unin- 
habited lands  to  which  they  might  have  been  led  for  this  pur- 
pose. They  took  a  narrow,  technical,  and  Jewish  view  of  their 
commission.  They  founded  abortions  instead  of  terrestrial 
angelhoods.  They  failed  to  comprehend  the  principle  of  ex- 
clusion. They  failed  to  organize  the  rising  body  upon  the 
ground  of  non-complicity  with  evil.  They  lingered  in  the 
border-lands  of  compromise.  Paul  withstood  and  overcame 
that  prejudice  in  their  midst,  under  the  influence  of  which  the 
converts  from  among  the  Pharisees  taught,  that  without  cir- 
cumcision there  was  no  salvation ;  but  the  astounding  thing  is, 
that  this  church  in  Jerusalem,  which  is  the  mother  of  churches, 
should  from  the  start  have  embodied  within  itself  the  heresy  of 
ritualism.  Who  can  tell  what  other  heresies  were  generated 
there  ?  In  this  primitive  field,  the  full  ears  and  the  barren 
ears,  the  fat  kine  and  the  lean  kine,  were  planted  and  herded 
together ;  and,  as  in  the  ancient  vision,  the  full  ears  were 
devoured  by  the  barren  ears,  and  the  fat  kine  wasted  by  the 
lean  kine. 

382.  In  the  elaboration  of  this  subject,  volumes  might  be 


202  AFCANA    OF   CHUISTIAKITY.         [chap.  ii. 

written.  Cliristiauity  is  not  speculation^  and  not  merely  morals, 
but  solidarity.  Christ  came  to  establisli  solidarity,  and  this  is 
the  hitherto  unfulfilled  mission  of  Christianity  in  the  world. 
These  considerations  inevitably  connect  themselves  with  what 
is  stated  concerning  the  "works '^  of  the  Church  called  Thyatira. 
As  the  new  creation  begins  to  be  established,  even  in  one  man, 
he  will  gradually  cease  from  the  inculcation  of  doctrine,  and 
confine  himself  to  the  instituting  of  harmony.  As  this  church 
is  established  with  two  or  three,  their  state  must  inevitably  be 
one  of  isolation  and  of  solidarity.  As  this  church  extends  to 
ten  or  twenty  or  a  hundred,  all  are  included  within  this  circle 
of  isolation,  and  knit  together  in  this  "body  of  solidarity.  If 
converts  are  made  in  reality,  as  methods  of  dehverance  are 
opened  to  them,  they  are  caught  up  through  the  openings  of  the 
respirations  into  that  body  which  thus  begins  to  be  revealed. 
The  divine  respirations  which  then  inflow,  can  only  be  retained 
in  the  body  as  it  begins  to  institute  the  works  of  harmony. 
For  instance,  each,  series  or  band  or  body  can  only  affiliate 
to  itself  a  new  member,  as  it  is  prepared  to  institute  the  indi- 
vidual into  his  or  her  own  suitable  employment.  This  people, 
therefore,  generally,  is  obliged,  as  the  condition  upon  which 
depends  the  perpetuity  of  its  existence,  to  organize  righteous- 
ness into  industrial  service. 

383.  Much  that  is  here  stated  is  preliminary  to  future 
expositions,  but  a  few  further  specifications  must  be  made. 
The  organization  of  industry  seems  a  simple  thing,  neverthe- 
less it  is  the  most  diflacult  of  all  things  when  wrought  out  from 
first  principles  in  the  Word.  For  instance,  three  or  four  shoe- 
makers, from  motives  of  self-interest,  may  form  an  equitable 
combination  to  carry  on  their  business,  and  be  successful. 
There  is  nothing  absolutely  in  the  way  of  the  organization  of 
crafts  and  guilds  in  the  world,  in  the  natural  form  of  the  co- 
operative principle.  But  when  it  comes  to  first  principles, 
much  is  in  the  way,  which,  when  stated,  will  seem  shadowy, 
but  when  encountered,  prove  mountainous.  In  marching 
from  di\ane  principles  to  their  realizations,  one  stands  at  last 
face  to  face  with  a  solid  wall.  The  two  grounds  of  industry 
with  the  natural  man  are  self-interest  and  especial  taste ;  under 
the    stimulus   of    either   there   is    persistent  and    successful 


SEC.  383—384.]         THE   APOCALTPSE.  203 

labour.  When  men  in  the  natural  selfhood  combine  for  in- 
dustrial purposes,  what  is  termed  "enlightened  selfishness/* 
that  is,  the  infernal  principle  embodied  in  rational  wisdom  and 
prudence,  is  sufficient.  Men  may  go  by  night,  as  to  their 
spirits,  into  Hell,  and  form  intimacies  with  demons,  yet  labour 
by  day  in  the  co-operative  union  with  increased  efficiency. 
The  co-operative  principle  is  successfully  embodied  and  with 
astonishing  pecuniary  results,  by  the  Oneida  Perfectionists,  the 
ground  of  whose  religious  union  is  an  indiscriminate  sexual 
relation  between  all  the  members. 

384.  But  the  rudest  and  simplest  of  co-operative  movements 
with  the  new  people  is  impossible,  except  as  it  proceeds  from 
working  in  the  law  of  the  new  harmony  of  God.  Instead  of 
self-interest  and  the  special  taste  being  consulted,  the  worker 
has  to  fall  back  upon  the  divine  interest  and  the  divine  taste. 
For  instance,  the  man  may  be  of  delicate  habits,  accustomed 
from  infancy  to  be  waited  upon  in  a  varied  and  assiduous  ser- 
vice ;  he  may  have  gratified  his  religious  sentiment  by  pictures 
of  the  heavenly  forms  upon  his  walls,  and  by  the  writings  of 
saints  in  his  library  ;  he  may  have  delighted  himself  by  giving 
from  his  superfluity  to  the  needy.  Prayer  may  have  been  a 
luxury,  and  Sabbath  devotion  in  some  ritualistic  temple,  a 
refined,  aesthetic,  and  spiritual  indulgence.  He  may  have 
deemed  it  a  privilege  to  visit  his  bishop,  and  perhaps  to  spend  a 
week  amidst  the  elegant  and  refined,  yet  chastened  hospitali- 
ties of  the  episcopal  palace ;  but  that  dear  man,  though  he 
came  with  the  wealth  of  a  continent,  could  find  no  such  indul- 
gences in  the  church  called  Thyatira.  He  would  find  himself 
there  not  for  pleasures,  but  for  services.  As  respiration  was 
opened  in  his  frame,  he  would  discover  that  his  body  was  full 
of  ancestral  impurities,  which  could  only  be  removed  by  the 
embodiment  of  influx  in  physical  toil.  He  might  inquire  of 
some  one  far  more  illamined  than  any  bishop,  what  literature 
was  best  adapted  to  his  state,  and  in  answer  to  earnest  desire 
to  be  shown  the  right  way,  might  have  placed  in  his  hands, 
not  the  works  of  some  devout  mystic,  but  the  trowel  or  the 
plane.  The  Lord  God  Almighty  saith  in  this  church,  "  Whoso, 
however  rich  or  cultured  or  accustomed  to  delicate  ministra- 
tions, will  not  force  and  form  within  himself  such  a  love  of 


204  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ii. 

absolute  and  ultimate  service  as  sliall  make  him  content  and 
joyful  to  engage  in  any  industrial  use,  shall  liave  no  part  or  lot 
in  its  first  resurrection,  or  its  crown  of  life." 

385.  The  stimulus  of  self-interest  and  that  of  taste  must  be 
removed,  before  a  man  can  be  fully  aware  as  to  the  grounds 
and  motives  of  his  labours ;  he  must  fall  into  whatever  special 
labour  shall  most  conduce  to  the  good  of  the  divine  family  or 
series,  into  which  he  is  admitted.  The  experience  of  the  world 
has  proved  that  men  will  die  as  martyrs  for  religious  truths, 
whose  working  principles  they  Avould  rather  die  than  embody. 
Divine  co-operation  only  becomes  possible  from  this  ground. 
"  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together,"  saith  our  Lord, 
"  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  To  understand  what  the 
fulfilment  of  this  promise  implies,  the  believer  must  find  his 
way  into  one  of  those  groups  who  embody  God^s  will  through 
new  industries  opened  in  church  Thyatira.  A  man  finds  it 
impossible  to  advance  in  these  new  industries,  except  as  he 
advances  in  respiration,  regeneration,  and  bodily  sanctification. 
The  Spirit  of  God  takes  possession  of  him,  as  he  takes  posses- 
sion of  his  use.  The  Spirit  of  God  reconstructs  his  spirit  and 
his  body  in  harmony,  as  he  puts  forth  labours  to  reconstruct 
his  own  especial  industry,  into  a  vehicle  of  representation  of 
that  harmony.  He  begins  to  respire  at  one  with  the  angels, 
as  he  begins  to  labour  in  unity  with  his  .companions.  He  in- 
draws  more  invigorating  and  copious  inspirations,  as  he  iden- 
tifies himself  more  completely  with  his  industrial  function. 
He  enters  through  a  new  and  living  way  into  the  tabernacle 
of  the  Holiest,  that  is,  the  life  of  Christ  realized  in  him.  He 
soon  begins  to  comprehend  more  fully  than  can  be  taught  in 
words,  concerning  the  nature  of  the  "works"  allotted  to  this  new 
people.  More  knowledge  concerning  the  casting  out  of  devils 
and  the  other  works  which  are  promised  as  "  signs  following 
those  that  believe,"  is  evolved  in  a  brief  space  through  the 
co-operative  labour  of  one  such  series,  than  can  be  derived 
from  all  the  literature  extant  upon  it  in  the  world ;  for  the 
knowledge  is  practical,  that  is,  the  substance  of  knowledge. 

386.  It  is  by  the  consolidation  of  individuals  into  harmonic 
series  for  specific  industries,  that  harmonic  society  is  rendered 
possible.      Every  pursuit,  from  the  finest  intellectual  to  the 


SEC.  385—387-]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  205 


most  soKd  ultimate^  has  its  specific  infernal  inversion  in  the 
Hells.  Before  the  least  of  series,  in  the  least  of  industries, 
can  be  established  in  divine  order,  the  new  man  must  combat 
the  demons  who  represent  the  embodiment  of  the  aggregation 
of  the  powers  in  the  Hells,  who  work  magic  for  the  inversion 
of  that  industry.  For  illustration,  when  the  time  comes  for 
the  work  of  banking,  of  milling,  or  of  manufacturing  wooden 
ware,  to  be  engaged  in  by  the  new  man,  specific  infiuxes  de- 
scend which  begin  to  quicken  the  faculties  for  this  end.  At  the 
same  time  arrayed  against  them  the  hostile  powers  of  Infernus 
lead  up  their  battalions.  It  is  only  by  embodying  the  first 
principles  of  divine  order  in  the  will  and  by  leading  out  afiec- 
tions  for  these  especial  uses  into  invincible  determinations, 
and  then  by  engaging  with  all  his  might  and  force  of  character 
in  the  indicated  pursuits,  that  the  subject  of  the  Lord's  king- 
dom can  maintain  his  ground  in  the  new  harmony ;  can  keep 
his  respirations  from  receding,  can  hold  his  feet  from  sliding, 
can  hold  open  the  doorways  that  lead  through  his  organism 
into  the  spaces  of  the  Heavens,  or  preserve  his  physical  life 
from  ultimate  destruction. 

387.  But  when  the  grounds  are  conquered  for  a  new 
industry  to  rest  on,  a  stone  begins  to  be  rolled  against  the 
mouth  of  that  especial  Hell  which  opposes  it,  and  a  triumphal 
archway  begins  to  be  opened  into  that  Heaven  which  flows 
down  into  it.  The  first  new  miller  begins,  by  Divine  aid, 
to  open  that  sluiceway,  through  which  waters  shall  ulti- 
mately flow  to  turn  all  the  mill-wheels  of  the  world.  The 
first  new  banker,  who  can  stand  in  a  truly  ordered  financial 
institution,  lays  the  foundation,  not  of  a  Bank  of  England,  but 
of  a  monetary  power  so  vast,  that  ultimately,  in  the  growths 
and  the  extensions  of  the  Divine  kingdom,  it  shall  stand  repro- 
duced as  the  imperial  and  colossal  ruler  of  the  exchano-es  of 
the  planet.  The  initiament  of  each  of  the  new  industries  is  a 
greater  thing  than  the  conquest  of  a  continent.  In  course  of 
time  the  shoe-making  brother  becomes  one  of  a  terrestrial 
angelhood  of  cordwainers,  holding  by  sheer  force  of  faithful- 
ness of  will,  in  deep  subjection,  the  multitudinous  demons  who 
invade  the  world  through  this  variety  of  the  pursuits  of  men. 
Men  can  pray  together  in  the  same  prayer-meetings  for  long 


20G  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIAN  ITT.        [chap.  ii. 

years,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  di^dde  on  doctrinal  and 
speculative  points,  and  become  bitter  personal  enemies ;  or 
differ  on  political  questions  and  burn  each  other's  houses  and 
take  each  other's  lives.  But  introduced  into  the  new  industries 
they  become  so  near  and  so  dear  in  the  sweet  fellowship  of 
a  divine  use,  that  nothing  can  separate  them.  If  one  is  sick, 
thousrh  removed  to  another  continent,  the  other  is  aware  of 
it,  and  pours  forth  healing  circulations  from  his  own  frame, 
which  traverse  the  electric  circuits  of  the  globe  with  vitalising 
and  nourishing  powers.  If  one  is  infested  and  tormented 
by  some  terrible  rising  from  the  Hells,  whether  sleeping  or 
waking,  the  other  is  spiritually  and  bodily  aroused  and  eager 
for  his  relief.  This  is  fraternity  indeed,  and  not  its  pietistic 
simulation,  and  such  are  among  the  first  beginnings  of  the 
"  works  "  of  this  new  people. 

388.  The  peculiarity  of  the  genius  of  the  Thyatiran  people  is 
industrial  comprehensiveness ;  they  are  of  those  whose  separate 
industries  thrive  best  as  they  are  built  together  with  others  in 
the  great  solidarity  of  harmony.  The  men  who  have  founded 
great  empires  have  always  been,  in  some  sense,  though  in  a 
closed  and  often  fearfully  inverted  condition,  of  a  kindred  make 
to  those  who  shall  be  its  representative  characters.  Here  are 
natures  who  are  well  content,  for  their  dwelling,  with  a  house 
of  logs,  but  who  lay  out  the  plans  of  enterprises  that  shall 
stand  at  last  in  harmonic  cities,  with  an  average  architecture 
surpassing  the  imperial  and  sacerdotal  grandeur  of  Baalbec  and 
PalmjTa.  Here  is  the  germ  of  a  people  who  are  miserable 
unless  grouped  and  organized,  respiring  together  and  engaged, 
as  one,  in  laying  such  industrial  foundations.  Here  is  a  wealth 
of  conception  that  dazzles  one's  imagination,  combined  with  a 
husbanding  of  resources  and  a  quickening  and  evolution  of 
personal  powers  that  multipHes  wealth  in  the  ratio  of  the  in- 
crease of  all  virtues.  Here  is  an  antique  devotion  to  ideas, 
and  a  loyalty  to  leaders  who  embody  those  ideas,  that  makes 
the  whole  body  compact  as  granite  and  penetrative  as  fire. 
Here  is  granite  and  here  is  fire  ;  organization  as  coherent  as  are 
the  foundations  of  the  globe,  and  ardours  that  are  inexhaustible 
as  the  heats  within  the  earth's  bosom  and  the  flames  that  kindle 
from  its  firmament.  In  a  word,  here  are  men,  not  shadows  of  men. 


SEC.  388—390.]  THE   AFOCALTFSE.  207 

not  pigmies,  not  simulations  -,  liere  are  personal  forms  for  the 
indwelling  of  incarnate  God.    (See  "  Pleasures  of  the  Angels.^') 

389.  A  pivotal  man  of  this  type,  physically  located  in  Great 
Britain,  can  make  his  presence  instantly  felt,  by  accession  of 
force  in  respiration,  among  groups  of  his  society  at  one  and 
the  same  instant,  from  America  to  the  extreme  east  of  Asia. 
Those  respiring  in  series,  because  labouring  in  series,  in  the 
interchange  of  respirations  can  in  the  same  manner  uplift, 
solace,  and  reinforce  the  pivotal  man.  This  is  one  of  the  first 
applications  of  the  revived  principle  of  solidarity.  In  the  same 
manner,  if  individuals  of  a  given  industry,  in  a  series,  are 
suffering  through  specific  infernal  or  infernal-natural  attempts 
to  destroy  that  industry,  a  pivotal  chief  of  the  society,  thouo-h 
absent  in  space  at  the  extremities  of  the  globe,  may  inter- 
unite  himself  with  them  and  interflow  through  all  their  facul- 
ties, by  means  of  his  radiative  powers.  But,  in  turn,  if  there 
is  an  excess  of  life  developed  in  their  nervous  organisms,  co- 
acting  thus  in  unity,  which  is  not  required  for  their  own  phy- 
sical necessities,  in  the  interflow  and  interchange  they  lovingly 
give  out  that  surplus,  not  into  the  waste  aii',  but  into  the 
bosom  of  their  radiative  leader  and  exemplar ;  this  is  another 
of  the  '"^ works"  in  the  incipiency  of  solidarity.  And  such 
interchanges  are  accomplished, whatever  maybe  the  terrestrial 
distances  between  them. 

390.  Wlien  the  Thyatiran  church  begins  to  assume  form 
and  substance,  what  is  here  said  will  be  but  as  the  beginning 
of  "works."'  The  apostles  in  Gethsemane,  as  has  been  said  be- 
fore, slept  supinely,  while  Jesus  sweat  great  drops  of  blood, 
and  cried  from  His  humanity,  in  the  extremity  of  anguish,  "  If 
it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me."'  In  the  very  begin- 
nings of  this  order  pivotal  men  of  such  a  genius  will  be  able 
to  pass  months  and  seasons  without  one  single  interval  during 
which  the  natural  will  ceases  to  battle,  the  natural  reason  to 
desist  from  thought,  or  the  natural  body  to  be  relaxed,  so  that 
it  is  no  longer  physically  and  actively  in  combat  with  the  ulti- 
mate forces  of  infernal  sorceries.  Or  again,  months  and  seasons 
may  thus  pass,  during  which  a  pivotal  man  Avill  never  cease 
from  the  more  terrific  watchings  and  combatings  in  the 
spiritual  degrees  of  the  will,  the  reason,  and  the  frame.     Spirit 


20S  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ii. 

and  body,  knit  up  into  one  grand  persistence,  will  be  as  the 
mailed  statue  of  a  warrior,  whoso  sword-arm  falls  with  the  full 
force  of  all  the  kindled  and  gathered  powers,  and  shears  re- 
sistlessly  through  whatever  infernal  organism  provokes  the 
blow.  Or  again,  pivotal  men  of  this  quality  may,  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  serve  as  forms  through  which  soft  infantile  re- 
spii-ations  may  go  forth  for  open  breathing  infants  in  their  series; 
and  sharp,  perceptional  respirations  for  practical  intellectual 
men  in  their  scries  ;  and  corporeal,  mechanical  respirations  for 
different  groups  of  artisans  in  their  series ;  and  soothing  and 
restorative  respirations  for  the  suflFering  and  the  infirm  in  their 
series ;  and  acute  and  monitory  respirations  for  the  dull  and 
sluggish  in  their  series.  And  so  through  vast  particulars; 
while,  nevertheless,  they  may  be  carrying  on,  as  occasion 
serves,  separate  and  individual  works ;  dealing  with  men  of 
the  world  as  men  of  the  world ;  appearing  with  financiers  as 
financiers,  or  as  men  of  external  culture  with  the  literati. 
These  "  works  '^  also  are  in  the  beginning  of  solidarity. 

391.  There  are  as  elsewhere  stated,  means  by  which  the 
infernals  labour  to  produce  a  respiration  which  is  infernal- 
natural,  and  so  opposed  to  the  divine-natural.  A  pivotal  man 
of  this  society  exists  in  continuous  rapport  with  all  the  organ- 
isms in  his  society.  If  one  of  the  body  is  thus  menaced, 
through  his  radiative  and  absorptive  powers  he  gathers  himself, 
and  begins  at  once  to  make  his  presence  felt,  as  an  agent  of 
the  Lord,  in  the  midst  of  the  respirations  of  the  afilicted  frame. 
If  persons  are  in  partially  opened  respiration,  but  with  bodies 
that  have  been  obsessed  or  possessed,  poisoned  throughout  by 
infernal  substances,  infilled  with  magical  elements,  and  weak- 
ened through  physical  disease ;  and  if,  moreover,  lesions  have 
taken  place  in  the  brain,  with  paroxysms  of  insanity  (supposing 
here  a  hypothetical  case),  such  persons  would  seem  to  be  hope- 
less ;  especially  if  the  infernals  should  begin  to  pour  the 
currents  of  the  breathings  of  the  Hells  into  their  bodies. 
There  are  two  forms  of  infernal-natural  respiration  to  which  all 
of  a  mediatorial  character  are  liable.  In  the  first  of  these,  the 
breaths  proceed  through  the  generative  organs  as  through  an 
open  mouth,  inflate  the  subtle  air-passages  of  the  bowels,  take 
possession  of  the  lungs,  and  drive  back  the  respirations  that 


SEC.  391—393.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  209 

are  divine-natural.  In  the  second^  the  infernal  respirations 
rise  tlu'ougli  the  anal  ducts  in  the  same  manner,  ascend  by  the 
way  of  the  intestines,  make  air-chambers  of  the  stomach,  and 
roll  up  into  the  lungs  as  before.  These  two  infernal  respira- 
tions may  combine  and  act  as  one ;  then  come  such  exhibitions 
of  the  power  of  sorcery  as  it  is  almost  impossible  to  write,  while 
the  statements  will  seem  too  incredible  to  be  believed. 

392.  Through  the  interaction  of  these  two  of  the  great 
breath-falsities  and  breath-sorceries,  the  titanic  pivotal  power 
of  the  Hells  comes  up  to  measure  swords  with  the  new  man  of 
the  spirit ;  a  myriad  of  demons  all  engaged,  in-breathing  as 
one,  and  forcing  up  the  inverted  respirations  through  the 
body  of  their  subject  victim.  The  exhalations  then  become 
so  powerful  and  so  offensive,  that  even  though  the  most 
active  of  natural  disinfectants  and  deodorisers  are  made  use 
of,  the  effluvia  is  almost  insupportable,  and  so  deadly  that  it 
threatens  all  who  inhale  it  with  death.  The  stomach  and 
abdomen  of  the  sufferer  distend  like  those  of  the  bodies  of 
drowned  persons,  that  from  decomposition  have  become 
inflated,  and  that  have  arisen  to  the  surface.  The  infernal 
breaths  surge  in  through  the  lower  orifices  spoken  of,  with 
a  hoarse,  gurgling  sound.  The  breaths  rush  upward  until 
there  is  one  current  from  the  anal  passage  through  the  mouth 
and  nostrils  and  ears ;  while  in  the  last  extremity  the  body 
becomes  cold  and  rigid,  the  flesh  of  a  black  purple,  the  saliva 
bloody  foam,  the  heart  ceases  to  beat,  the  pulse  is  felt  no 
more,  and  death  and  hell  apparently  have  triumphed  in  the 
extinction  of  physical  life. 

393.  In  the  beginnings  of  sohdarity,  pivotal-radiative  men 
are  competent  in  the  Lord  to  meet  and  overcome  such  forms  of 
false  respiration  as  this,  even  though  carried  on  through  all 
such  stages,  to  all  such  consequences,  even  to  the  last;  and  they 
have  power  in  God  to  break  the  pivotal  force  in  the  Hells 
through  which  such  false  respiration  is  embotlied,  to  close  up 
the  ruptured  aerial  passages,  to  lead  an  ordered  divine  respira- 
tion throughout  the  whole  frame,  from  the  head  to  the  feet,  to 
expel  the  infernal  impurities,  and  so  absolutely  to  conquer  death 
and  hell,  even  where  they  had  apparently  completed  the  con- 
quest and  taken  possession  of  their  prey.     Vast  are  the  fields 


210  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

of  tliougLt,  and  reacliing  out  into  the  widest  of  perspectives ; 
but  vast  as  they  are,  the  men  of  this  type,  if  found  faithful,  will 
also  be  found  adequate  to  cope  with  the  demons  on  all  of  their 
battle-fields ;  these  also  are  among  the  "  works/^ 

394.  The  pivotal-radiative  men  of  this  species,  again,  have 
power  to  institute  society  from  first  principles  in  the  Divine 
image.  They  do  this,  first  of  all,  by  taking  into  themselves 
elements  of  the  new  creation,  and  by  maturing  new  substances, 
wliich,  through  the  concert  of  respiration,  they  impart  to  others; 
they  take  well-meaning  disciples,  as  a  father  takes  his  sons, 
and  adopt  them  hterally  into  their  essence  and  substance,  their 
flesh  and  blood  and  bone.  Tkrough  their  divinely  quickened 
celestial  and  natural  life,  and  working  by  means  of  an  immense 
conspiration  through  the  Heavens,  they  organize  about  them- 
selves noble  and  heroic  characters  ;  individuals,  for  whom  they 
would  suffer  and  die  to  the  last ;  and  who,  in  due  time,  so  put 
off  the  old  man  and  put  on  the  new  man,  that  they  would  suffer 
and  die  to  the  last  for  them.  Such  love,  so  organized,  the 
world  hath  never  seen.  Thus  are  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
real  Christian  state,  and  these  are  the  beginnings  of  reorganized 
society.  Such  persons  become  sub-pivots,  chiefs  of  series, 
captains  of  tens  and  hundreds  and  thousands  in  the  industrial 
armies ;  and,  through  such  means  as  will  hereafter  be  shown, 
from  the  centre  to  the  circumference,  the  divine  family  becomes 
a  unity. 

395.  Pivotal-radiative  men  also  have  power,  as  they  pass 
from  stage  to  stage  of  their  career,  to  loosen  and  remove  those 
magical  webs  or  veils  by  means  of  which  the  infernals  cause 
paralysis,  torpor,  lethargic  sleep,  a  general  bodily  weakness 
and  negativeness,  impotency,  and  other  of  the  more  direful 
infestations ;  the  injections  of  a  false  breath  into  the  abdomen 
and  other  grievous  things.  Whenever  in  the  incipient  con- 
ditions of  the  new  harmony  neophytes  are  taken,  it  must  always 
be  with  the  knowledge  that  any  short-coming  on  their  part 
will  involve  most  fearful  sufferings  to  those  of  the  series  con- 
nected with  the  pivotal,  and  especially  sacred,  function.  In 
the  new  order,  no  servant  of  the  Lord,  working  in  or  near  the 
centres  of  power,  can  undertake  a  task,  whether  mediately  or 
immediately,  like  the  training  of  a  new  convert  from  the  dis- 


SEC.  394—397.]         TSE   APOCALTFSE.  211 

orders  of  the  world,  witliout  being  for  the  time  in  the  condition 
of  a  capitalist  who  lays  out  his  wealth  upon  an  undertakino-  of 
which  the  results  are  uncertain.  It  may  be  that  the  disciple 
will  respond  with  alacrity  to  every  monition  of  the  Spirit, 
grow  in  grace  daily,  cause  little  suffering,  comparatively;  be 
found,  as  a  rule,  faithful  in  every  trust,  display  a  deep  humihty, 
die  swiftly  to  all  evil  loves,  and  be  born  again  powerfully  into 
the  divine  affections.  It  may  also  b«  that  the  human  soil  wiU 
prove,  if  not  worthless,  yet  so  near  it  as  to  call  for  a  work  that 
is  tremendous,  a  solicitude  that  is  painful  and  unceasing,  and 
to  involve  a  danger  that,  were  the  Lord  not  infinite,  would 
produce  death  in  a  short  time. 

396.  The  whole  world  is  wrapped  in  mantles  of  illusion. 
"When  persons  enter  the  Spiritual  World  after  physical  decease, 
they  put  off  veil  after  veil,  skin  after  skin,  which  there  appear 
as  corporeal  substances ;  but  which  on  Earth  were  concealed 
within  the  mind  or  heart,  existing  there  as  false  persuasions  of 
doctrine,  obstinate  and  wilful  determinations  born  of  selfish 
or  sensual  desires,  conceits  of  the  understanding,  or  self- 
delusions  of  the  moral  nature.  Some  of  these  lie  loosely  about 
the  surfaces  of  character,  and  are  removed  with  ease ;  others, 
Hnk  by  link,  are  interknit  from  organ  to  organ  of  the  spiritual 
person,  and  are  held  in  their  place  with  an  almost  fatal  per- 
tinacity. It  is  the  operation  of  the  new  respiration  successively 
to  loosen  these  garments  of  the  old  self,  these  tainted  vestures, 
saturated  both  with  ancestral  and  with  actual  lusts. 

397.  In  the  more  ancient  of  the  religions  of  the  world,  the 
neophytes  were  instructed  to  lay  aside  their  old  raiment,  and  to 
present  themselves  before  the  altars  in  vestures  utterly  white 
and  clean.  But  the  unclothing  of  the  individual  is  a  terrible 
process.  The  spu'it  shrinks  and  cowers,  and,  as  it  goes  on, 
almost  calls  upon  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  upon  it,  to 
hide  it  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  As  a  rule,  the  pagan 
has  much  less  to  lay  aside  than  the  self-styled  Christian  de- 
votee. The  educative  process,  as  carried  on  in  society,  is  in 
reahty  a  clothing  process.  Men  dig  pits  in  the  bosom,  and 
bury  their  own  hearts  out  of  sight.  The  intellect,  when  no 
longer  guided  through  the  purified  will,  whatever  may  be  the 
seemings  of  outward  rationality  in  which  it  appears  to  men, 

0  '1 


212  ARCANA    OF   GHBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

is  drugged  and  drunken  and  mad  from  faculty  to  faculty. 
Christendom  is  educated  cMcfly  by  insane  priests  and  lunatic 
philosophers.  From  infancy,  generations  are  trained  into  the 
habit  of  appearing  otherwise  than  as  they  arc ;  consequently, 
when  men  begin  to  seek  the  new  harmony  of  God,  spiritually, 
mentally,  physically,  the  veil  of  the  covering  is  cast  over  all 
of  the  faces ;  no  man  knows  what  he  is,  no  man  knows  what 
ancestrally  is  buried  in  him,  no  man  knows  what  diseases  may 
be  latent  in  the  body,  what  perversities  are  in  the  reason,  what 
insanities  in  the  will. 

398.  Some  natures,  toned  down  into  the  repose  of  high-bred 
ease,  approach  the  new  life  almost  with  the  grace  and  sweet- 
ness of  angels;  they  have  received  the  finishing  touches  in 
that  terrestrial  school  which  prelates  and  nobles  support  and 
eulogise,  but  which  Satan  possesses  by  his  falsehoods,  that  he 
may  weave  within  it  a  body  of  all  accomplishments,  for  the 
spirit  of  all  crimes.  The  divine  charm  of  manner  is  deceiving 
to  the  soul.  The  new  life  is  approached  by  such  as  have  been 
lulled  by  these  perfumed  opiates,  honestly  and  sincerely  it  may 
be,  but  they  come  nevertheless  as  smiling  and  unconscious 
impostors ;  the  faculty  of  moral  discrimination,  in  its  finer 
essence,  being  almost  lost. 

399.  This  beauty  blackens  and  turns  to  ashes  ;  this  surface 
gold  wears  thin  and  exposes  the  basei*  metal  which  it  con- 
cealed. The  garnish  of  sentiment  wastes  away,  and  within  the 
bosom,  which  seemed  at  first  to  move  but  to  the  most  gentle 
and  beautiful  affections,  gulfs  of  corruption  are  revealed,  wastes 
of  spiritual  desolation,  where  the  air  is  sulphureous  with  me- 
phitic  fire.  Such,  if  in  earnest  in  seeking  the  divine  life,  learn 
utterly  to  hate  these  simulations.  They  are  seen  like  the  pub- 
lican who  stood  afar  off,  not  daring  so  much  as  to  lift  up  his 
eyes  to  Heaven,  but  falling  upon  his  face,  and  crying,  "  God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.^'  The  sense  of  self-loathing,  self- 
detestation,  finally  overwhelms  them,  and  they  cannot  see  how 
it  is  possible  that  they  have  ever  been  permitted  so  much  as 
to  feel  the  first  breath  of  the  Lord^s  visitation.  When  this  is 
reached,  there  is  hope  of  them ;  but  nothing,  save  a  doubtful 
apprehension,  before.  It  is  easier  to  convert  a  thousand 
pagans  than  one  spoiled  child  of  society.     Wlien  one  veil  of 


SEC.  398—400.]         TSE   AFOCALYFSU.  213 


false  appearance  is  taken  away,  a  measure  of  the  ease  and 
sweetness  may  return;  but  soon  coldnesses  and  fears  begin, 
and  it  is  obvious  that  another  veil,  a  Httle  deeper,  is  being 
brought  to  the  surface.  In  four  or  five  years,  hundreds  may 
be  removed  in  the  advance  of  respiration.  The  courtly  duchess, 
on  the  unregenerate  side  of  her  hidden  self,  will  feel,  perhaps, 
and  look  and  act  and  converse  in  the  tones  of  some  brutal 
Irish  char-woman.  The  coui't  beauty,  as  her  unveilings  pro- 
ceed, on  the  same  evil  side  may  exhibit  the  features  of  a  savage 
of  the  age  of  stone.  The  highly-cultured  scholar  and  polished 
gentleman,  the  courtier,  the  prince  or  prime  minister  may 
shrivel  and  waste,  as  the  assumed  but  not  assimilated  per- 
fections are  taken  from  him,  and  in  the  deeper  stages  of  his 
vastation  startle  one  with  the  resemblance  to  some  pirate  or 
freebooter,  seme  gamester,  parasite,  some  uncultured  peasant, 
or  frightened  barbarian.  When  God  sets  our  secret  sins 
before  us  in  the  light  of  His  countenance,  and  the  illusions 
vanish  from  the  splendours  of  His  face,  who  shall  abide  ? 

400.  On  the  other  hand,  an  artisan  comes,  whose  progeni- 
tors for  ages  have  been  menials  and  serfs.  With  him  there  is 
a  surface  roughness,  a  lack  of  polish,  a  grossness  of  manner 
offensive  to  good  taste ;  and  here  one  might  say  there  is  little 
covered ;  almost  everything  is  palpable ;  here  is  an  artless 
child  of  the  workshop,  or  an  unsophisticated  son  of  the  soil. 
It  may  be  so ;  painful  are  the  unveilings  with  the  very  best, 
but  far  more  probably  the  veilings,  the  self-delusions,  the 
meannesses,  the  degradations,  though  different  in  manifesta- 
tion, will  be  as  impervious  and  complicated  as  in  the  former 
case.  If  gold  lacquer  does  not  cover  gold  ore,  neither  does  the 
muck  and  mire  of  ages.  In  general,  men  of  the  mechanical 
class,  inheriting  its  peculiarities,  are  just  as  thoroughly  in- 
volved in  the  varieties  of  illusion  as  are  princes.  Ages  of 
suppressed  hatred,  not  of  evil,  for  that  has  been  loved,  but  of 
individuals,  simply  because  better  circumstanced  in  life ;  ages 
of  wishes  that  were  murders,  and  hopes  that  were  rebelh'on ; 
ages  of  petty  competitions,  fraternal  jealousies,  treadings-down 
and  stampings-out  of  the  class  just  below  them,  that  they 
might  force  the  way  up  into  the  class  above ;  ages  of  fierce, 
wolf-like  hungers,  ravenous  appetites  for  power  and  pleasure. 


214  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIAN ITY.        [chap.  ii. 

for  dignity  and  despotic  rnlcj  and  the  sweet  luxury  of  enslav- 
ing others ;  all  these  things,  tier  upon  tier,  lie  packed  and 
folded  away  within  their  ancestral  cells.  In  this  respect, 
again,  the  working  men  of  Christendom  are  a  thousand  times 
inferior  to  pagans  and  savages.  On  the  whole,  it  is  easier  to 
train  an  earnest  man  of  large  culture,  elevated  station,  and 
easy  fortune,  into  a  life  which  involves  every  species  of  self- 
sacrifice,  than  it  is  to  train  into  the  same  habit  a  hereditary 
mechanic,  or  agricultural  labourer.  Of  course  there  are  large 
classes  of  exceptions,  but  this  requires  to  be  especially  said 
concerning  those  who  are  termed  "  working  men.^^ 

401.   Such  will  not  misunderstand  me.     Blind  must  be  the 
eye  that  cannot  see  that  the  liberation  of  labour  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  industrial  equity,  are  here  set  forth,  with  no  favour- 
itism shown  to  those  who  are  called  the  fortunate  classes.    The 
ouvriers,  however  oppressed  by   others,  are  their  own  worst 
tyrants.     Those  of  whose  exactions  they  have  most  reason  to 
complain,  are  men  who  have  risen  from  their  own  ranks.     As 
the  liberated  slave  becomes  the  most  cruel  of  slave-masters, 
so  the  uplifted  workman  becomes  the  most  cruel  of  task-mas- 
ters.    The  world  has  seen  many  cruel  systems,  but  the  most 
cruel  of  all  will  be  that  of  labourers  combining  among  them- 
selves, and  enslaving  capital,   and  culture,    and  genius,    and 
refinement,    and  high   moral   excellence;    at   the   bidding   of 
vulgar   demagogues.      When  one   introspects   the   collective 
body  of  the  unregenerate  artisanhood  of  Christendom,  one  sees 
that  in  it  are  capacities  for  organized  crime  sufficient  to  sweep 
away  the    civilization   of  the  globe.     Those   hungers,    those 
thirsts,   those  madnesses,  gigantic  and  insatiable,  those  are 
the  great  cause  of  social  oppression.     From  step  to  step  the 
combinations  of  such  powers  will  bring  about  eventually,  un- 
less overruled,  not  the  golden  age  of  fraternal  peace,  but  the 
chaos  that  is  the  grave  of  all  the  ages.    They  will  simply  make 
organized  society  impossible.      Few  indeed    in  Christendom 
are  the  artisans  to  whom  the  Lord^s  new  harmony  will  prove 
acceptable.     Were  the  sufii-ages  to  be  polled,  for  one  vote  cast 
for   Christ    there  would  be  ten  for  Robespien-e.     The  good 
ouvrier  is  a  blessed  man  ;  and  when  such  gather  in  their  series, 
and  are  engaged  in  their  appropriate  toil,  the  workshop  will 


SEC.  401—403.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  215 

be  as  that  place  where  stood  the  tree  that  burned  with  fire, 
yet  was  unconsumed.  One  approaching  it  may  hear  the  voice, 
"  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  thy  feet,  for  the  place  where  thou 
standest  is  holy  ground."  Kings  and  princes,  great  capi- 
tahsts,  the  lordly  and  the  noble  of  the  generations  shall  come, 
humbly  beseeching  that  they  may  take  the  lowest  place. 
The  blouse  of  the  artisan,  worn  by  such,  shall  be  more  than 
the  imperial  robe.  Nevertheless,  the  oiivriev  in  approaching 
the  new  creation  has  stupendous  class-conceits  to  put  aside, 
and  with  them  class-traditions,  class-inversions,  class-depra- 
vation. 

402.  The  Christian  pilgrim,  whose  habitation  has  been 
amidst  the  inversions  of  civilization,  is  roused  as  to  the  spirit 
by  the  Divine  appeal.  Is  he  a  monarch?  he  discovers 
himself  to  be,  as  the  false  appearances  vanish,  a  poor 
unfortunate  being.  Is  he  a  serf?  he  discovers  himself  to 
be  in  the  same  light,  as  to  his  inmost,  a  child  of  the  Infinite 
and  Everlasting  King.  One  may  imagine  Christendom  a 
physical  ruin;  the  remains  of  the  Victoria  tower,  or  afarade 
of  St.  PauVs,  rising  over  heaps  of  rubbish,  where  once  was 
London.  The  river  that  now  bears  upon  its  bosom  the  fleets 
of  the  world,  obstructed  by  the  fallen  masonry  of  its  bridges, 
ebbs  and  flows,  perchance  reclaiming  to  its  bosom  the  ancient 
morasses.  A  thick,  unsightly,  tangled  vegetation  disguises 
the  omnipresent  decay.  The  fire  and  the  flood,  the  invader 
and  the  home-bred  enemy,  the  earthquake  and  the  rising  sea, 
have  done  their  work  thoroughly  and  well.  Yet  the  ruin  of 
London  is  but  an  incident  in  the  ruin  of  the  isle. 

403.  A  man  has  fallen  asleep  in  the  last  hour  of  England's 
imperial  greatness,  and  has  been  miraculously  preserved  to 
wake,  to  come  forth  in  the  noontide  of  a  summer  day.  For 
the  sound  of  wheels,  the  steps  of  the  multitudes  of  men,  are  the 
whisperings  of  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  the  stealthy  motions  of 
the  wolf  or  the  brown  deer,  the  gurgling  of  the  waters,  and  now 
and  then  the  fall  of  some  mouldering  stone.  God  mercifully 
preserves  his  brain  from  madness,  and  his  heart  from  despair. 
Gradually,  little  by  little,  he  begins  to  comprehend  that  he  has 
wakened  from  a  long  trance,  during  which  his  island  has  be- 
come as  Assyria,  and  his  city  as  Carthage.     Yet  still  he  lives  ; 


21G  ABCANA    OF   CUBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

the  instincts  of  his  kind  are  strong  within  him.  He  calls  upon 
the  Lord,  and  sees  after  a  while,  raising  his  face  that  was 
bowed  in  supplication,  a  man  of  another  age,  who  addresses 
him  in  tender  and  kindly  accents,  thougli  in  some  sonorous 
and  majestic  tongue  compared  to  which  the  language  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  is  as  the  chatter  of  barbarians.  After  a  while 
the  awakened  man  begins  to  comprehend  his  language,  and 
the  two  converse  together.  The  stranger  tells  him  of  how 
that  ruin  liappened;  how  self-love  ran  its  course  through 
prosperity  to  anarchy  ;  how  a  new  civilization  has  been  born  ; 
how  the  Lord  God  has  come  down  to  reign  among  men,  having 
organized  the  just  through  respiration  into  solidarity,  made 
them  for  number  as  the  sands  of  the  sea-side,  while  their  order 
and  their  glory  are  as  the  motion  and  resplendence  of  the  stars. 
Weeping,  touched,  overwhelmed,  he  who  has  come  forth  from 
the  spoils  of  the  long  trance,  longs  to  escape  from  the  ruin,  to 
leave  this  oppressive  silence,  this  sepulchre  of  empire.  He 
turns  to  the  friendly  stranger  with  words  like  these,  "  You 
know  the  way  into  this  kingdom  of  harmony.  I  adjure  you 
have  pity  on  me,  and  show  me  how  to  escape.  Poor,  helpless 
being,  must  I  lie  down  and  perish  ?  The  wolf  already  waits  to 
rend  me,  as  the  night  comes  on.^^ 

404.  This  is  the  actual  condition  of  the  man  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  who  begins  to  awaken  from  the  stupor  of  the 
true  intelligence,  and  the  drugged  sleep  of  the  internal  heart. 
That  ruin  which  has  been  supposed  is  the  fact ;  it  is  the  in- 
ternal reality  within  the  surface  magnificence  of  Europe.  Its 
cities,  spiritually,  are  howling  wildernesses.  But  let  us  carry 
the  picture  a  little  farther.  The  spells  of  the  trance  begin  to 
re-asserfc  their  power ;  the  man,  as  all  objects  grow  dim  and 
hazy  before  him,  imagines  himself  entangled  in  the  labyrinths 
of  some  frightful  dream.  The  stranger  responds  to  his  adjura- 
tion, "  Come  with  me,  my  vessel  is  below ;  the  tide  runs  sea- 
ward, we  have  no  time  to  lose."  But  now  there  is  a  shrink- 
ing back,  a  hesitation,  and  the  words  are  drowsily,  petulantly, 
or  beseechingly  uttered,  "  Let  me  find  my  way  back  out  of 
this  nightmare ;  let  me  sleep  while  the  dream  is  dissipated,  and 
I  re-awaken  at  the  morning  bell  that  brings  to  the  door  of 
my  chamber  the  valet  with  the  Times."     And  so  the  dreamer 


SEC.  404—406.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  217 


dreams  and  perishes.  This,  again,  is  an  illustration  of  how 
the  man  who  has  once  been  awakened,  relapses  into  the  illusions 
of  appearances ;  for  evermore  the  real  appears  as  the  unreal, 
and  the  unreal  as  the  real,  till  the  Spirit  of  Light,  which  this 
age  bars  its  breast  against,  brings  the  true  awakening  and 
withdraws  the  veil  of  appearances  which  is  cast  about  the 
soul. 

405.  Here  then  stands  in  his  office  the  pivotal  and  respira- 
tory man.  Around  him  lie  the  sleepers  in  the  valley  of  the 
dead ;  but  as  it  is  written,  "  The  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God,^^  and  "  many  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth 
shall  come  forth."  He  stands,  but  only  for  a  brief  space,  with 
each  to  whom  he  bears  the  message.  He  cannot  linger,  for 
his  office  is  to  the  many  and  not  to  the  few.  He  cannot  linger, 
for  the  tides  of  the  Divine  Providence  that  have  brought  him 
hither,  flow  out  for  his  return.  Men  of  this  type  are  thus,  in- 
strumentally,  quickeners.  Versed  in  realities,  they  visit  the 
slaves  of  appearances  j  while  their  administration  continues, 
there  is  an  inshining  of  Divine  light  upon  the  individual ;  they 
are  encircled  by  the  moving  atmospheres  which  are  the  breaths 
of  Deity.  These  breaths  uphold  them  in  rationality  and  free- 
dom while  they  decide  between  the  new  works  and  the  old. 
By  "  works "  is  here  to  be  understood,  again,  the  use  of 
pivotal  respirative  men  of  Thyatira,  in  gathering  human  beings 
out  of  appearances  into  reahties ;  breaking  the  enchantments 
and  illusions  by  which  the  world  holds  them  in  slavery,  and 
serving  as  agents  for  introducing  them  into  states,  during 
which  they  shall  be  divested  of  appearances,  and  reconstructed 
in  the  heavenly  realities. 

406.  In  building  up  a  true  order,  the  beginning  has  to  be  made 
with  wretched  men,  wasted  men,  sorrowful  men.  It  is  useless 
to  attempt  to  present  the  new  life,  as  a  practical  consideration, 
to  any  who  are  at  ease,  to  any  who  are  either  self-satisfied,  or 
satisfied  with  the  existing  condition  of  things  in  the  church, 
state,  or  society.  Those  who  have  learned  how  to  keep  them- 
selves drugged  in  the  affections  and  the  understanding,  always 
have  a  ready  answer  to  every  appeal  of  the  momentarily  quick- 
ened conscience.  As  the  demon  who  represented  himself  as 
the  evil  genius  of  Mr.  Charles  Dickens  declared,  there  are 


218  ABCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITT.        [chap.  ir. 

drams  of  every  species  adapted  to  all  tlie  peculiarities  of  the 
heart  and  brain;  sedatives  for  life,  opiates  in  death.  As 
Theodore  Parker  averred,  "  I  have  known  many  bad  men,  but 
never  saw  one  afraid  to  die/'  Men  may  glide  out  of  natural 
existence,  composed  to  a  delicious  dream ;  the  spices  of  senti- 
ment may  embalm  their  remains.  Woe  for  the  waking  !  Woe 
for  the  unveilings  when  these  sedatives  soothe  no  more,  and 
the  smell  of  these  spices  wafts  away  !  Better  to  be  unveiled  in 
this  life ;  for  here  that  Avhich  is  unveiled  can  be  removed,  that 
which  is  impure  abolished,  that  which  is  wasted  supplied,  and 
that  which  is  the  least  germ  of  buried  good  unfolded  into  a 
plant  of  paradise.  That  germ  may  live,  in  some  cases,  where 
appearances  might  indicate  that  it  had  decayed.  It  is  not 
always  the  seeming  saint  in  whose  bosom  the  seed  of  God  re- 
tains the  germinating  power ;  nor  is  it  always  the  seeming 
sinner  in  whom  that  seed  has  utterly  perished.  God  judges 
according  to  the  heart ;  and  the  inner  experience  of  each  in- 
dividual is  fully  known  only  to  his  Maker. 

407.  '^  Works,''  again  signifies  here,  that  pivotal-respirative 
men  have  power  for  the  time,  when  those  to  whom  they  minis- 
ter are  being  visited  by  the  Spirit  and  brought  to  decisions 
between  the  old  and  the  new  life,  to  drink  those  deadly  things, 
with  which  the  infernals  endeavour  to  stupefy  the  reason,  the 
conscience,  and  the  will,  and  suspend  the  powers  of  the  moral 
judgment.  They  drink  the  deadly  things  ;  that  is,  they  inter- 
pose themselves  between  such  minds  and  the  infernal  genii, 
exposing  their  breasts  to  the  invading  venom.  For  much  on 
this  topic,  see  "  Magic  of  the  Hells."  It  is  through  this  pro- 
cess that  men  are  ministered  to  with  a  royal  munificence. 
Pivotal-radiative  men  sufi'er  excruciating  agonies  from  the 
more  deadly  of  these  poisons,  for  they  must  hold  them  till  the 
Lord  elaborates  through  their  own  persons  a  divine -natural 
element  which  neutralised  them. 

408.  By  "  works,"  is  also  understood,  the  labours  of  pivotal- 
radiative  men  ;  their  wise  dealing,  their  prudence,  justice,  and 
firmness,  in  separating  from  the  working  series,  in  societies  of 
the  new  life,  those  individuals  who,  from  whatever  cause,  are 
unable  to  enter  into  solidarity.  There  are  three  distinct  types 
of  persons  who  will  be  unable,  though  well-meaning,  and  in 


SEC.  407—409.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  210 

regenerative  conditions,  to  become  tlie  members  of  working 
series,  until  such  times  as  they  have  been  ploughed  to  the  very 
quick  and  almost  reorganised  in  body  and  mind.  These  are, 
first,  those  who  possess  vampirising  organizations ;  second, 
those  who  are  unable  to  prevent  their  personal  spheres  from 
inflowing  into  organisms  of  members  of  the  series ;  and 
third,  those  in  whom  conscientiousness  is  lacking  in  ultimate 
works. 

409.  Vampirising  organizations  are  especially  to  be  guarded 
against.  Some  persons  eat  and  drink  for  themselves,  and  carry 
on  the  assimilative  processes  chiefly  in  their  own  systems. 
We  do  not  feel  weakened  by  contact  with  them.  Another 
class  live  principally  by  absorbing  the  finest  essences  of  the 
bodies  of  those  who  can  be  drawn  into  sympathy  and  rapport 
with  them.  These  are  unconscious  cannibals,  man-eaters, 
woman-devourers,  appropriators  and  spoiators  of  childhood, 
through  all  its  series,  to  the  cradled  babe.  When  this  is  done 
wilfully,  persons  who  practise  it  are  guilty  of  atrocious  rob- 
beries. Chiefly,  however,  it  is  the  sin  of  ignorance.  These 
parasitical  systems,  where  introduced  into  a  series,  twine 
themselves  around  the  trunk  of  the  brotherhood  or  the  sister- 
hood, as  rampant  vines  that  clamber  over  fruit-trees;  as  the 
ivy  nourishes  itself  upon  the  bark,  or  as  the  misletoe  fastens 
upon  the  branches.  They  cling  to  every  twig  and  tendril 
like  the  funereal  hanging  moss  of  the  southern  morasses.  To 
change  the  figure,  they  are  the  blood-suckers  both  of  the  red 
and  the  white  circulations.  They  are  like  gigantic,  many- 
armed  polypi  of  the  deep ;  they  strangle  the  living  system 
they  embrace.  When  good  persons,  who  have  inherited  into 
these  parasitical  systems,  begin  to  be  attracted  toward  the 
recipients  of  the  new  creation,  they  begin  to  experience  an 
exhilaration  and  immense  refreshment  from  their  presence, 
and  look  upon  the  love  which  they  possess  for  such  esteemed 
friends  as  a  sentiment  for  which  they  may  give  themselves  an 
infinite  credit.  So  far  as  they  love  with  the  Spirit,  there  may 
be  a  divine  graciousness  in  it ;  but  the  vampirising  body, 
through  its  corrupt  natural  soul,  overflows  with  spontaneous 
and  constraining  tenderness,  because  it  has  found  something 
to  love,  in  the  sense  in  which  a  wolf  has  found  a  fine,  well- 


220  ABCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

fed  and  succulent  lamb ;  it  is  good  eating  and  drinking ; 
nothing  more  or  less.  'VVlicn  tliis  has  become  chronic,  it  is 
humanly  incurable. 

410.  Men  who  have  lived  much  on  the  sympathies  of 
women ;  women  who  have  delicately  imbibed  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  a  variety  of  male  friends ;  those  of  both  sexes  who 
have  been  dependent  upon  the  offices  of  the  magnetiser,  have 
much  to  undergo,  to  learn,  and  to  lay  aside,  before  they  can 
enter  into  series.  Pivotal-radiative  men  stand  between  such 
and  the  general  society  of  the  new  life ;  such  careful  guardians 
are  continually,  through  their  radiative  senses,  on  the  alert; 
and  when  they  discover  that  there  are  vampires,  whose  sphere 
begins  to  absorb  the  sacred  essences  and  substances  of  the 
new  creation  from  those  who  have  received  them  into  their 
frames,  they  put  forth,  through  methods  known  to  themselves, 
Herculean  powers,  separating  and  untwining  the  spheres  j 
they  also  deal  tenderly  with  those  whom  they  thus  separate, 
and  endeavour  to  open  ways  by  means  of  which  the  Lord^s 
new  creation  may  triumph,  bringing  even  those  most  delete- 
rious organisms  into  states  of  fruitfulness  and  vigour  for  the 
divine  employ.  Those  who  live  by  selfish  appropriations  of 
the  common  life  are,  as  we  have  seen,  cut  off;  but  there  is  a 
second  class  in  whom  the  manifestation  of  an  inversive  power 
is  totally  different. 

411.  The  private  and  personal  sphere  of  the  individual 
should  never  be  intruded  on,  never  broken  into,  never  inter- 
pervaded  by  the  sphere  evolved  through  the  selfhood  of 
another.  Personalities  should  be  as  distinct  as  are  the  stars, 
and  shine  upon  each  other  from  the  crystal  privacies  of  space. 
With  some  there  is  an  innate  sense  of  order,  fitness,  and  pro- 
priety in  this  respect ;  others  are  ignorantly  invasive,  demon- 
strative, and  obtrusive  ;  they  give  themselves,  as  a  musky 
jungle  wafts  its  fetid  odovu's.  Now  in  the  divine  process  of 
physical  regeneration,  immense  bodies  of  latent  evils  embodied 
throughout  every  plane  of  the  organism,  when  disturbed,  as 
buried  plagues  within  the  soil  yield  up  their  gross  effluvium. 
Here  then  are  two  types  of  men ;  the  one  with  an  iron  deter- 
mination hold  themselves  both  physically  and  spiritually  with- 
in themselves,  to  prevent  these  poisons  from  afiecting  the 


SEC.  410—412.]  *         THE   APOCALYPSE.  221 

bodies  of  others.  But  another  class  give  themselves  out, 
emptying  these  corruptions  into  the  bosoms  of  those  with 
whom  they  are  connected  by  sympathetic  relations,  and  with 
whom,  by  reason  of  association  in  labour,  they  stand  in  close 
proximity.  Consequences  ensue  which  are  most  deleterious; 
others  are  made  their  scape-goats,  others  imbibe  their  ances- 
tral diseases.  Effluvias  of  murder  and  theft  and  robbery  and 
adultery  may  be  communicated,  as  are  the  smallpox  and  the 
cholera.  The  labour  of  an  entire  series  may  be  brought  to  an 
end  or  rendered  comparatively  fruitless  by  one  such  member, 
and  yet  the  individual  may  be,  in  the  beginnings  of  open 
respiration,  the  subject  of  Divine  grace,  and  destined,  when 
purified,  to  discharge,  perhaps,  functions  of  great  importance. 
Pivotal-radiative  men  continually  exercise  a  scrutiny,  as  if 
the  lamps  of  judgment  were  kindled  in  their  eyes.  When 
calamities  like  these  are  liable  to  occur,  they  endeavour  gently 
to  lead  those  who  possess  such  death-imparting  bodies,  into 
disassociated  uses,  and  suggest  such  methods  of  discij)line 
combined  with  strict  self-examinations,  as  shall  result  in 
purification.  The  conceit  of  man  and  the  pride  of  woman 
require  and  receive  many  a  painful  lesson. 

412.  A  third  class  who  are  found  oppressive  and  of  a  dele- 
terious presence  in  series,  are  those  who  have  not  been  trained 
to  a  rigid  conscientiousness  in  ultimate  duties.  The  habits  of 
sliding  over  work,  which  should  be  done  thoroughly,  of  neglect- 
ing the  minute  economies,  of  doing  the  Lord^s  work  imper- 
fectly, of  permitting  waste,  of  indulging  in  extravagance,  of 
taking  things  for  granted  on  inference  or  hearsay  which  re- 
quire personal  examination ;  in  a  word,  of  unfaithfulness  in 
service,  most  surely  will  cause  those  who  give  way  to  them, 
for  a  time  at  least,  to  be  excluded,  as  by  the  sword  of  fire.  God 
makes  every  daisy  as  perfect  as  a  sun.  The  unbounded 
opulence  of  the  universe  is  the  result  of  a  calculation  that  de- 
scends to  the  economies  of  atoms.  If  one  could  shake  God^s 
ordered  method  of  working  in  the  growth  of  the  blades  of 
grass,  the  same  process  would  jar  and  shake  and  overwhelm 
the  crystallizations  and  firmaments  of  the  cosmos.  If  a  man 
cannot  work  with  conscience  in  the  brain,  in  the  eyes,  and  at 
the  finger  ends;  if  he  cannot  work  as  faithfully  in  the  humblest 


222  ABCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITT.  [chap.  tt. 

of  routine  duties,  us  the  hero  does  when  he  gathers  into  his 
bosom  the  ardours  of  Infinity,  and  flames  forth  in  subhme 
martyrdom ;  if,  in  fact,  he  cannot  work  instrumentally,  as  God 
works,  even  to  a  perfect  ministry  to  the  blades  of  grass  ;  or,  at 
least,  if  he  cannot  endeavour  with  all  his  might  to  do  his  very 
best,  he  drops  out  of  series,  he  deranges  the  harmonies,  he 
opens  doors  for  the  incoming  of  the  wasters  and  the  destroyers ; 
he  must  be  set  aside  till  he  shall  have  become  faithful  in 
the  ultimates  of  things.  Pivotal-radiative  men  have  here  a 
painful  task,  to  analyse  these  failures  from  first  principles,  to 
disengage  the  spheres  of  such  open  breathing  neophytes,  and 
to  labour  with  them  and  in  them,  till  such  times  as  their  short- 
comings may  cease. 

413.  They  preside  thus  over  the  wealth-producing  function, 
and  are  set  as  with  the  drawn  sword  over  against  all  powers, 
all  disciples,  who  in  their  weakness  or  disease,  or  from  the  un- 
thrifty habits  of  previous  life,  introduce  confusion  and  arrest 
the  process  of  the  evolution  of  the  industrial  harmonies. 

414.  Nationalities,  as  at  present  constituted,  are  incoherent, 
factitious,  and  composed  of  human  elements,  whose  tendencies 
are  often  antagonistical  to  each  other.  This  is  the  fruitful 
cause  of  political  disturbances,  of  civil  wars  and  rebellions. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  not  a  unity.  The  British  islands  are 
occupied  by  the  remains  of  many  septs  or  clans,  between 
whom  the  fusion  has  never  been  complete.  What  is  here  said 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  applies  also  to  the  other  great  races  of 
Christendom.  There  are,  in  point  of  fact,  but  seven  great 
types  of  humanity.  The  child  of  the  Japanese  may  inherib 
into  that  peculiar  genius  which  we  call  Latin  or  Anglo- 
American.  The  child  of  the  Hottentot  may  unfold  into  the 
Aryan  or  Semitic  type  of  character.  The  blue-eyed  German 
may  be  the  father  of  children  in  their  idiosyncrasies  Chinese 
or  Tartarian.  There  is  no  spiritual  identity  even  where  the 
nationalities  most  cohere.  It  is  true  that,  in  many  instances, 
similars  beget  similars,  but  also  true  that  similars  beget  dis- 
similars.  What  is  termed  patriotism  is  a  mere  natural  senti- 
ment while  closed  conditions  continue.  It  is  generally  the  fact 
that  hereditary  peculiarities  are  transmitted,  though  with  a 
constant  modification  of  type. 


SEC.  413— 416.J         THE   APOCALYPSE.  223 

415.  As  open  respiration  begins^  these  factitious  distinctions 
and  differences  gradually  fade  ;  there  will  be  but  seven  types 
of  nationalities  in  the  harmonic  future  of  the  world.  The  open 
respiring  man  who  has  entered  into  the  new  creation  of  our 
Lordj  will  realize  the  fulfilment  of  the  scriptui-al  statement, 
that  ''  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  Barbarian  or  Scythian, 
but  Christ  is  all  and  in  all."  It  is  wonderful  to  observe  the 
destruction  of  national  peculiarities  in  the  new  man.  Those 
in  whom  the  Hebrew  blood  has  preponderated,  those  in  whom 
the  Latin  element  has  been  predominant,  those  in  the  remote 
east  of  Asia,  those  from  the  close-grained  and  compact  races 
of  North  Britain,  in  fine  all  varieties  of  mankind,  rising  out  of 
their  old  conditions,  shed  the  natural  wrappages  of  ancestral 
character,  and  emerge  into  a  glorious  likeness  of  the  Lord. 
It  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  Thyatiran  church,  that  through  its 
pivotal-radiative  men,  the  old  tribal  and  national  distinctions 
fade  and  disappear.  In  spite  of  the  different  facial  outlines,  as 
for  instance  between  the  Asiatic  and  European,  the  same  ex- 
pressions begin  to  be  manifested  in  the  features  of  those  who 
enter  into  one  life,  one  respiration,  one  spiritual  and  physical 
regeneration,  one  order,  and  one  harmony. 

416.  "  Works  "  signifies  again,  the  varied  processes  through 
which  pivotal-respirative  men  are  enabled  to  detect  the  internal 
and  essential  likeness,  which  qualifies  indi\'iduals,  gathered  from 
every  tribe  and  people  under  heaven,  to  be  knit  into  the  same 
series,  and  marshalled  into  one  solidarity.  Men  of  this  type, 
in  their  wondrous  oSice,  penetrate  to  the  most  hidden  interiors 
of  the  psychical  nature  of  man.  They  clothe  themselves  with 
the  peculiarities  of  the  races.  To  the  Japanese,  they  seem  as 
if  born  amidst  the  sanctities  of  Miaco,  or  beneath  the  shadows 
of  Fusiyama;  to  the  Anglo-American,  nursed  at  the  breasts 
of  liberty,  and  built  of  that  human  substance  that  is  fashioned 
into  the  elements  of  the  Republic.  It  is  by  means  of  this 
power  of  entering  into  the  nationalities,  that  they  are  able  to 
Bxplore  the  internals  of  men  of  each  nation,  and  gather  to- 
gether the  millions  of  similars  from  the  millions  of  dissimilars. 
It  is  through  the  same  gift  that  their  subtle  sphere  diffuses 
itself  into  the  world,  touching  as  with  electric  fingers  each 
soul  to  whom  they  have  a  mission.     It  is  thus  that  they  are 


224  ARCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITT.        [chaj.  ir. 

enabled  to  labour  with  an  exact  discrimination,  and  hold  in 
reserve  their  potencies  of  life,  till  such  are  formed  as  are,  in 
spirit,  seeking  to  be  led  out  of  darkness  into  light,  and  from 
the  shores  of  death  to  the  confines  of  immortality. 

417.  It  is  through  this  administration  that  composite  fra- 
ternities are  gathered  for  the  new  life.  Our  Lord  said,  in  His 
humanity,  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto 
Me."  In  other  words,  by  the  operations  of  His  Spirit,  He 
draws  the  separate  individual  natures  out  of  the  sheaths  of 
their  various  nationalities.  Sects,  parties,  schools  of  philo- 
sophy, new  clans  in  the  religious  or  intellectual  world,  stand 
in  the  extensions  of  the  continuous  degree  which  the  whole 
earth  occupies.  But  the  Lord's  new  people  stand  elevated  by 
a  discrete  degree,  above  that  universal  plane.  The  sects  stand 
involved  in  the  nationalities,  and  stringent  political  necessities, 
and  raging  national  animosities  array  them,  however  devout,  in 
arms  against  one  another.  The  catholic  Irishman  and  the 
catholic  Englishman,  the  evangelical  Prussian  and  Dane,  the 
episcopal  Carolinian  and  New  Yorker,  intrigue  against  one 
another  diplomatically,  and  slay  each  other  on  the  battle-field. 
This  is  because  the  sects  are  extended  on  the  continuous  natu- 
ral degree.  Brother  puts  the  brother  to  death,  the  father  the 
son.  The  Swedenborgian  pro-slavery  secessionist  is  armed 
to  the  teeth,  that  he  may  smite  and  slay  the  Swedenborgian 
Northern  anti-slavery  Unionist.  Tens  of  thousands  of  Bap- 
tists, Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Eoman  Catholics,  have  killed 
each  other,  fighting  under  opposite  standards  on  the  recent 
battle-fields  of  America.     . 

418.  The  pivotal-respirative  men,  being  themselves  first 
elevated  into  this  discrete  degree  above  the  natural  plane,  are 
forms  through  which  the  Lord  draws,  up,  to  stand  upon  that 
degree,  those  who  are  being  called  into  the  new  creation.  They 
love  all  nations  with  an  equal  love  ;  they  pay  an  equal  respect 
to  all  just  governments ;  they  respect  the  temporary  use  of 
even  incomplete  institutions ;  they  do  not  lead  men  from  the 
narrowness  of  one  nation  into  the  narrowness  of  another;  they 
do  not  seek  to  supplant  the  bigotry  of  the  tricolour  with  the 
bigotry  of  the  stars  and  stripes ;  nor  to  levy  war  from  internals 
in  behalf  of  democracies  against  monarchies,  or  monarchies 


SEC.  417—420.]         TSE  APOCALYFSK  225 

against  democracies.  The  new  man  dies  to  his  own  selfliood, 
to  the  selfhood  of  his  nation^  and  to  the  selfhood  of  humanity ; 
he  lives  henceforth  and  for  evermore  as  Christ  liveth  in  him ; 
the  nations  whom  he  learns  inmostly  to  love^  intellectually  to 
recognise/ and  bodily  to  labour  for,  are  the  seven  new  and 
glorious  nationalities  that  are  struggling  to  be  born. 

419.  "Works/^  also  signifies,  power  which  such  possess  of 
remaining  for  months,  and  even  years,  in  a  peculiar  rapport 
with  individuals  who  are  being  quickened  by  our  Lord.  It  is 
effected  through  the  conspiration  of  all  of  the  radiative  senses. 
They  focalise  these  senses  on  distant  persons,  to  whom  they 
minister,  and  by  means  of  a  modified  and  most  exactly  gradu- 
ated respiration,  adapt  the  radiative  divine-natural  heats,  first 
to  the  lung  conditions  and  thence  to  the  general  bodily  con- 
ditions of  those  for  whom  they  have  this  work  to  do.  For 
instance,  the  radiative  man  may  be  in  America,  and  an  indi- 
vidual may  be  struggling  toward  the  divine  life  in  Europe  or 
Asia.  The  person  is  brought  within  the  circle  of  his  mental 
horizon,  though  unknown  by  outward  name ;  there  is  then  a 
clear  perception  given  of  the  work  that  is  to  be  done  for  him. 
As  the  focalised  ardour  and  clearness  of  a  calcium  light, 
beams  concentre  themselves  through  the  bosom  and  softly 
play  into  the  space  before  the  lungs  of  the  distant  individual. 
There  is  no  effort  to  biologise,  to  persuade,  to  possess,  but 
on  the  contrary,  a  constant  demagnetizing  and  dispossessing 
process  is  carried  on.  If  there  begins  to  be  a  decision  in  the 
will  against  the  Lord's  life,  this  focal  splendour  instantly  is 
withdrawn ;  but  if  the  desires  become  fixed  in  the  right  way, 
the  beams  converge  more  closely. 

420.  They  must  be  held  thus,  often  for  long  durations. 
They  must  be  held  without  allowing  either  personal  sympathies 
or  antipathies  to  exercise  the  slightest  influence  ;  they  must  be 
held  at  all  hazards,  though  the  pivotal  man  is  suffering  in  the 
extremest  anguish,  through  the  rages  of  the  resistant  HeUs. 
They  must  be  held  till  the  Lord  orders  otherwise,  though  the 
labour  seems  to  be  without  result  in  the  past,  promise  in  the 
present,  or  hope  in  the  future.  They  must  be  held  though 
the  demons  who  infest  the  individual  marshal  the  powers  of 
their  infernal  societies,  and  seek  to  slay  the  pivotal  man,  in 

p 


226  ARCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITT.         [ciiap.  ii. 

tlieir  liopo  tliat  tliey  may  tlius  arrest  tbo  new  creation.  The 
pivotal  man  must  still  hold,  as  a  part  of  his  labour  never  to 
be  interrupted,  whether  the  physical  body  wake  or  sleep. 
Men,  even  the  very  best,  are  so  knit  into  the  magical  body  of 
the  world,  so  clouded  in  their  perceptions,  and  so  benumbed 
in  their  better  loves,  that  few  can  be  liberated  without  such 
'^  works  "  as  these. 

421.  Finally,  when  the  preliminary  work  is  done,  if  there 
is  full  response,  the  converging  rays  enter  into  the  lungs ;  and 
the  fay  angels  from  our  Lord,  at  the  point  where  the  rays 
converge  and  enter,  when  the  command  is  given,  proceed 
to  the  work  of  the  breath  opening,  conspiring  from  without, 
with  the  divine  descent  from  within.  When  this  is  done, 
other  fays  begin  to  enter  and  begin  the  work  of  extirpating 
the  impure  passions  in  the  now  open  respiring  frame.  From 
this  time,  through  all  the  degrees  of  the  advance  of  respiration, 
the  rays  penetrate  more  deeply  till  the  man  is  free  from  all 
that  he  inherited  of  natural  iniquity.  The  reason  why  such 
superhuman  love  exists  between  all  who  thus  respire  in  unison, 
and  especially  why  a  pivotal-respirative  man  calls  forth  such 
deep  and  sacred  affection  is,  that  as  the  work  advances,  the 
very  body  feels  and  responds  to  that  divine  faithfulness  and 
tenderness  in  which  the  Lord  descends  through  servants  who 
thus  execute  His  will.  The  waves  of  that  love  become  at 
last  like  the  encircling  billows  of  the  sea,  and  the  pivotal- 
respirative  man,  as  his  work  goes  on  to  its  consummation,  may 
offer  up  that  prayer  to  the  Lord  in  His  humanity,  which  the 
Lord  through  His  human  uplifted  to  the  Infinite  Divine,  "  I 
in  them,  and  Thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect 
in  one.^^ 

422.  From  this  point  other  '^works"  begin  to  follow.  The 
pivotal-radiative  man  is  encircled  by  a  divine  family.  He  dwells 
in  them  by  the  interpervasions  of  the  divine  elements  through 
his  radiative  senses ;  they  dwell  in  him  in  a  wonderful  manner ; 
but  each  according  to  their  especial  quality  and  function  in  the 
new  harmony.  Those  who  are  of  a  more  interior  and  sacer- 
dotal quality,  waft  through  the  expanses  of  his  frame  a  dis- 
creted  element  from  their  sacerdotal  loves.  Those  who  are  in 
the  most  ultimate  of  strengths  and  uses  by  vibratory  impul- 


SEC.  421—424.]        TSE   APOCALYPSK  227 

sions  yield  a  return  of  strength  and  life.  Whatever  there  is 
tender  in  him  is  nourished  through  the  full  life  of  all  their 
tenderness.  Whatever  is  intellectual  is  ministered  to  by  the 
return  givings  of  all  their  intellectuality.  Whatever  is  brave 
and  strongs  and  self-denying^  and  world- embracing,  and  Christ- 
receivings  and  death- over  comings  and  sin-extirpating,  is  per- 
petually sustained,  quickened,  and  reinforced,  as  the  organs  of 
corresponding  qualities  in  them  are  fashioned,  enlarged,  and 
perfected  to  receive  and  pour  forth  the  life  of  Heaven.  A 
pivotal-respirative  man  stands  in  the  perfection  of  health  and 
life,  through  the  respirative  and  the  regenerative  unity  of  the 
body  that  has  been  gathered  through  his  sacrifices. 

423.  Twelve  sub -pivots  grouped  around  the  pivotal  man 
and  each  and  all  co-operant  in  perfect  unity,  constitute  the 
pivotal  luminary.  When  the  pivotal  man  requires  relaxation, 
they,  as  one,  maintain  the  equilibrium  of  the  society  and  pre- 
serve unimpaired  its  general  sphere.  It  then  becomes  pos- 
sible for  him  to  enjoy  real  rest.  The  night  which  has  hitherto 
presented  to  him  the  whirling  and  stormy  concave,  now  be- 
comes a  starred  firmament  of  quiet  and  peaceful  light.  He  is 
encircled  by  the  general  body  of  their  breaths,  by  the  concur- 
rent vigour  of  their  purposes,  by  the  pure  harmony  of  their 
intelligence,  and  by  the  Divine  surety  and  sweetness  of  their 
afiections.  He  is  henceforth  enabled  to  engage  in  vaster 
undertakings.  The  power  of  the  order  begins  to  appear,  the 
throne  is  set  up  in  Zion.  From  this  time  also,  each  sub-pivot 
begins  to  be  enlarged.  The  groups  and  series  formed  in  end- 
less spirals  from  infancy  to  maturity,  respire  in  a  common 
felicity,  worship  in  the  midst  of  unearthly  sanctities,  and  in- 
herit into  larger  measures  of  vitality,  health,  power,  knowledge, 
sensation  and  happiness.  Thence  the  work  increases  through 
time  to  eternity.  This  must  suffice  for  an  illustration  of 
"  works  ; "  but  it  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  the  reader  may 
be  one  of  those  who  shall  share  in  the  beautiful  abundance  of 
such  ministrations,  and  be  builded,  as  a  living  stone,  in  the 
living  temple  of  our  Lord. 

424.  ''And  the  last  more  than  the  first.''  Manifold  de- 
clarations are  involved  in  this,  concerning  the  now  sphere  of 
the  new  woman.     First,  she  will  respire   in  the  beginning, 

p  2 


228  ASCANA   OF  CniilSTIANITY.  [chap.  it. 

through  sucli  pains  as  may  now  bo  denoted  by  pangs  of  par- 
turition. The  kings  arc,  in  point  of  fact,  a  new  womb.  The 
breaths  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  are  born  through  them,  in 
endless  generations.  ^Fhe  knowledges  concealed  within  the 
celestial  degree  of  the  mind,  and  which  descend  from  it  into 
the  natural  degree,  are  evolved  through  labour  pangs  also. 
The  function  of  natural  maternity  is  a  universal  symbol.  The 
inception  of  every  emotion  from  the  Lord  into  the  inmost  de- 
gree of  the  will  is  of  the  nature  of  the  initiament  of  the  soul- 
germ  into  the  feminine  ovum.  The  growths  of  the  bodies  of 
the  affections  of  the  will  are  all  through  eras  of  gestation.  The 
child-bearing  faculty  is  proper,  in  the  intellectual  sense,  to  the 
husband,  as  in  the  physical  sense,  to  the  wife.  God  impreg- 
nates the  married  will  of  the  husband  in  the  new  age,  through 
the  wife^s  will.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  relations  of  the 
wedded  minds.  The  invisible  and  latent  germs  of  truths  with- 
in the  body  of  the  feminine  intellect,  wafted  through  loving 
conspiration,  ascend  into  the  receptive  vessels  of  the  masculine 
understanding,  and  become  there  clothed  upon  with  the  veils 
of  language  that  precede,  and  are  necessary  to  their  appear- 
ance in  the  world.  Nor  are  the  bodies  of  the  natural  affections 
in  the  husband  other  than  the  receptacles  for  an  impregnation 
of  divine  qualities,  through  the  inflowings  of  the  wifely  heart. 
The  heart  of  the  woman  is  the  medium  through  which  the 
mind  of  the  man  becomes  prolific.  In  plenary  fulness  it  is  there- 
fore true,  that  in  the  sphere  of  intellect  the  wife  is  the  impreg- 
nator,  the  husband  the  impregnated.  This  is  not  the  case 
where  nuptial  unions  from  internals  to  externals,  in  the  three 
degrees  of  composite  unition,  celestial,  spiritual,  and  ultimate 
heavenly,  and  thence  in  corresponding  degrees  of  the  earthly, 
do  not  exist. 

425.  Before  God  can  be  with  man  (masculine),  he  must  be 
with  woman.  The  arid,  barren,  unfruitful,  because  unsexed, 
unmated  masculine  mind,  lacking  the  sweet  impregnation 
which  results  from  the  true  conjugial  union,  bears  no  fruit  to 
God,  of  the  quality  which  pertains  to  the  celestial  degree  of 
the  Word;  it  rises  no  higher  than  the  spiritual  degree.  Sexless 
and  barren  men,  as  to  mentality,  are  found  extracting  rays  of 
light  from  the  arcana  of  the  Scriptures  in  their  spiritual  sense. 


SEC.  425—427.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  229 

because  the  spiritual  itself  is  but  a  moonbeam_,  a  reflection  of 
an  object  that  receives  the  solar  ray.  The  coldj  watery  quality 
of  the  spiritual  sense,  separate  from  the  celestial,  steals  over 
the  brain  with  a  numbness,  disposing  it  to  the  abstract  and 
coldly  speculative.  Exceptions  occur  in  cases  where  men  or 
women  of  ardent  temperaments,  having  the  celestial  sense 
ri23ely  germinant  but  unexpressed  within  themselves,  wed  the 
feeling  of  one  with  the  written  statement  of  the  other.  Then 
the  spiritual  sense  is  illumined  to  their  minds  by  heart  percep- 
tion, serving  as  an  outward  mirror  to  reflect  the  splendours  of 
an  inward  sun. 

426.  The  sexless  plant  of  conventional  Swedenborgianism 
is  the  development  of  the  religious  idea  which  minds  of  frigid 
temperament  have  evolved  from  their  own  internal  mental 
states.  The  unexpressed  but  generous  and  human  and  liberal 
tendency,  developed  side  by  side  with  this,  upon  the  part  of 
another  class  of  the  readers  of  the  spiritual  expositions  of  the 
Word,  is  the  celestial  sense,  as  yet  unclothed  with  its  letter, 
clasping  the  spiritual  sense  in  close  conjunction  and  struggling 
on  to  a  noble  embodiment  in  the  natural  and  practical.  Cold 
minds,  unimpregnated  through  conjugial  union  with  a  noble 
wifely  essence,  accreting  into  themselves  abstract  ideas,  have 
given  birth  both  in  America  and  England  to  the  ecclesiastical 
unions  that  fondly  arrogate  the  title,  "  New  Jerusalem  /^  or  if 
others  of  a  warmer  genius  have  been  involved  in  such  crea- 
tions, they  have  been  led  captive  through  persuasive  arts,  and 
a  mistaken  sense  of  the  importance  of  external  organizations 
and  ceremonies. 

427.  There  can  be  no  genuine  New  Jerusalem  on  Earth  with 
man,  except  in  a  sense  which  is  tentative  and  of  the  nature  of 
a  verbal  prophecy,  till  the  new  woman  rises,  side  by  side  with 
the  new  man  \  till,  in  other  words,  the  masculine  and  feminine 
properties,  equally  and  fitly  conjoined,  embody  in  whole-hearted 
union  humanity's  fulness.  Internal  respiration  is  the  seal  and 
bond  of  the  nuptial  union,  in  the  will,  the  understanding,  and 
spiritual  person  of  the  woman,  with  the  Re-creative  Spirit. 
Then  she  is  called  "the  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife."  She  marries 
the  man  as  her  conjoint  partner  in  Jesus  Christ.  Through  in- 
ternal respiration  is  given  an  absolute  knowledge  of  the  true 


230  ABCANA    OF   GRBISTIANITY.  [chap,  ir. 

marriage,  as  an  iuner  revelation  of  tlie  Divine  Will.  The 
readers  of  Swedcnborg  attempt  to  construct  a  new  churcli  by 
preserving  old  states.  Witli  closed  respirations,  no  two  halves, 
male  and  female  of  tlie  human  unit,  can  discern  each  other. 
The  sense  attractions  are  so  strong,  the  motions  of  the  spirits  of 
the  blood  and  of  the  nervous  life,  where  two  are  not  internally 
the  components  of  each  other,  so  humanly  resistless,  that  discri- 
mination becomes  impossible  in  practice.  Com'tships  may  have 
been  pure  and  sweet,  relatively  speaking,  and  marriages  entirely 
proper  and  in  the  Divine  appointment,  and  valid  for  natural 
life,  in  many  cases  between  two  who  conjugially  were  not  one. 

428.  Internal  respiration  ends  this  condition  of  affairs.  Bear, 
O  sisters,  with  a  brother^ s  voice,  speaking  as  an  exponent  of 
Divine  oracles  !  Proceeding  we  advance  then,  as  fundamental, 
the  proposition ;  woman,  tkrough  internal  respiration,  becomes 
the  queen  of  the  new  marriage  state.  Her  highest  love  i3 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Every  prayer  is  a  mystery  of  con- 
jugial  union,  by  means  of  which  she  is  impregnated  in  the  will 
by  the  Divine  breath,  not  as  in  the  sense  of  an  impregnation 

n  God,  but  in  the  sense  of  an  impregnation  in  the  finite, 
from  God.  The  nuptial  union  which  the  soul  has,  in  this 
sense,  with  the  All-Inspiring  Spirit,  is  first  in  the  internals  of 
the  lungs  into  which  the  Holy  Ghost  descends,  with  the 
surrendery  of  the  being  to  the  Divine  service.  Soul-union  with 
Deity  has  been  a  fact  in  ages  of  closed  respiration,  and  the 
Quietists  are  its  historical  exponents ;  but  soul-union  is  never 
complete,  except  as  it  embodies  itself  in  all  the  corporate 
plenitudes  of  the  person.  This  is  realized  through  open  respi- 
ration, when  the  marriage  union  with  the  Infinite  is  celebrated 
in  the  loving  conspirations  of  the  motions  of  the  whole  obe- 
dient frame  with  the  breaths  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  speak 
now  of  the  organic  fact.  The  new  woman  then  attains  to  the 
wifehood  which  consists  in  unition  with  her  Divine  Redeemer 
in  body  and  in  soul ;  and  she  is  espoused  to  Him,  so  that  she 
can  say,  "  My  Maker  is  my  husband,"  and  ''  my  bridegroom 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel." 

429.  Now  she  is  in  a  condition  to  know  not  alone  her 
Maker^s  will  in  the  abstract  things,  but  also  in  the  concrete 
tilings  of  duty.     She  has  but  to  resolve  in  the  nuptial  choice 


SEC.  428—430.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  231 

to  give  lier  hand  as  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  within  her  declare. 
No  considerations  of  friends,  fortunes,  dignities,  or  worldly- 
pleasures  must  sway  her  choice ;  this  is,  when  the  respiration 
is  open,  an  equivalent  to  spiritual  adultery.  She  is  to  be  led 
as  the  Lord  wills  to  the  youth  whom  He  selects  for  her ;  other- 
wise their  union  is  to  proceed  with  customary  formalities. 
When  the  woman  with  open  respiration  gives  her  hand  at  the 
marriage  altar,  she  takes  no  covenant  upon  herself  but  the  one, 
obedience  in  the  Lord.  It  is  a  profanation  and  a  blasphemy 
to  covenant  otherwise ;  it  is  a  compact  with  death,  an  agree- 
ment with  hell.  Both  bridegroom  and  bride  being  in  open 
respiration,  it  is  the  Holy  Ghost  breathing  through  both  in  the 
interblending  of  the  breaths,  that  unites  them  in  the  natural 
from  a  coequal  oneness  and  innermost  union,  which  has  never 
been  sundered  since,  two  in  one,  male  and  female,  God  breathed 
them  'forth  as  soul-germs,  wafting  them  in  the  auras  of  His 
joy  from  the  Celestial  Heaven.  It  is  but  the  re-uniting  of  two 
streams  that  are  one  stream  where  they  issue  from  the  fountain- 
head  ;  and  so,  high  above  all  marriage  in  the  customary  sense. 
Two  such  stand  before  the  nuptial  altar  in  order  to  comply 
with  God^s  sacred  ordinances  as  embodied  in  civil  institu- 
tions ;  because  God  is  a  God  of  order. 

430.  The  whole  subject  of  marriage  lies  under  a  cloud  that 
is  impenetrable  to  the  vision  of  the  natural  man.  When 
persons  are  becoming  spiritual-natural  or  celestial-natm^al,  they 
are  led  through  many  changes  of  state,  during  which  there  is 
a  gradual  preparation  going  on,  so  that  at  last  they  may  see 
the  truth  as  it  is,  and  not  be  consumed  by  the  breath  of  its 
presence.  Were  the  naked  reality  of  the  Divine  Truth  in 
marriage  to  be  presented  before  the  proper  season,  the  effect 
would  be  almost  to  suppress  respiration;  the  organs  in  the 
mind  and  thence  in  the  frame,  not  being  qualified  to  incor- 
porate into  themselves  those  elements  through  which  alone  they 
would  know  the  truth  and  live.  The  depths  of  impurity  into 
which  the  world  is  plunged  are  so  profound,  and  the  qualities 
of  that  natural  sex-desire  which  is  inherent  with  man,  are, 
from  the  Divine  stand-point,  so  odious,  that  men  must  bo  led 
through  a  long  course  of  preparation  ;  otherwise  the  knowledge 
would  be  so  paiuful  as  to  beget  insanity.     God  does  not  let 


232  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.         [ciiap.  ii. 

men  know  what  tliey  are  delivered  from  until  tlieir  deliverance 
is  already,  in  part,,  accomplished.  It  is  only  in  the  new  crea- 
tion, in  its  truth,  its  life,  its  love,  its  individual  and  associated 
harmony,  that  those  things,  as  knowledges,  advance  beyond 
their  first  dim  dawniugs  towards  the  perfect  day.  What  is 
here  written  is,  in  many  places,  tentative  and  preparative. 

431.  There  is  one  word  which  defines  the  new  conjugial  state, 
established  in  man  through  the  new  creation ;  that  word  is 
wrought  in  the  very  textures  of  the  frame  ;  it  is  holiness  ;  that 
holiness  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.  It  was  the 
determination  of  Almighty  God,  that  the  carnal  idea  of  marriage, 
as  it  existed,  should  not  be  extended  into  eternity,  throughout 
the  Christian  world ;  and  hence  His  answer  to  the  query  of  the 
woman  at  the  well.  He  declared  most  absolutely  that  they 
neither  married  nor  were  given  in  marriage  in  Heaven.  Upon 
the  idea  of  marriage,  as  understood  in  the  world,  when  viewed 
in  the  light  of  an  ordinance  for  Heaven  and  for  angels.  He 
stamped  His  foot  and  ground  it  into  dust.  There  is  no  such 
thing,  there  can  be  no  such  thing.  The  sentimentalists, 
whether  in  the  Church  or  out  of  it,  who  imagine  that  earthly 
nuptials  are  reproduced  in  the  Divine  domains  of  eternity,  are 
the  subjects  of  a  scortatory  insanity  which  has  mounted  to  the 
brain,  or  reproduce  the  illusions  generated  in  the  hot-bed  of 
the  scortations  of  the  world.  Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire, 
and  that  is  conjugial  fire.  To  understand  marriage  as  it  is,  is 
to  understand  God  as  He  is,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  the 
finite  to  understand  the  Infinite. 

432.  But  here  three  truths  must  be  made  known.  First, 
there  are  tentative  marriages ;  second,  there  are  representative 
marriages  ;  and  third,  there  are  final  or  absolute  marriages ;  and 
it  is  impossible  for  those,  even  though  in  states  of  open  respi- 
ration, whose  marriages  are  tentative  or  representative,  to  know 
otherwise  than  that  they  are  valid  and  real ;  for  they  are  valid 
and  they  are  real  -,  they  are  conjugial  also,  in  a  preparative  and 
disciplinary  sense.  The  man  who  is  married  to  a  woman,  though 
she  is  incapable  of  being  a  wife  to  him,  having  been  taken  out 
of  the  old  dead  world,  and  being  held  in  a  state  of  quiescence  as 
to  her  inward  evils,  may  never  in  this  world  know  otherwise 
than  that  she  is  his  inmost  counterpart.     In  fact  he  cannot 


SEC.  431—434.]  THE  APOCALYFSJE.  233 

know  it^  for  there  is  no  knowledge  tkat  the  Lord  hides  so 
deeply  as  He  does  the  knowledge  of  counterparts.  It  is  an 
incredible  mistake  to  imagine  that  this  knowledge  lies  open. 
Every  avenue  of  access  to  it  is  guarded  as  by  the  seven-fold 
crossed  swords  of  the  attributes  of  the  Almighty.  The  Lord 
may  give  the  man  to  the  woman  or  the  woman  to  the  man, 
first,  in  the  natural  nuptial  relation,  and  they  may  cohabit  and 
have  children  born  to  them,  while  bodily,  their  states  have 
been  of  the  nature  of  the  scortatory  natm-al.  One  of  the  two 
may  pass  into  open  respiration  and  catch  glimpses  of  conjugial 
love  as  a  reality  opposed  to  scortation :  here  many  paths  open. 
If  the  one  who  thus  begins  to  respire  in  God  can  grasp  two 
ideas  and  hold  firmly  to  them  both,  they  can  be  safely  tided 
over  the  narrow  and  dangerous  bar,  the  rocky  reef,  or  devouring 
quicksand,  and  find  beyond  secure  harbourage  or  the  open  sea. 

433t  First  comes  the  idea  of  conjugial  marriage  as  a  fact  in 
God,  a  state  proceeding  out  of  God,  a  life  hidden  in  God.  The 
illusions  of  the  whole  world  concerning  marriage  have  to  be 
put  .beneath  the  feet,  and  the  bosom  opened  to  that  thrice 
awful  principle,  the  conjugial  of  God,  which,  as  it  begins  to 
work  in  the  frame,  creates  organically,  even  within  the  nuptial 
organs,  forms  that  are  in  the  image  of  marriage.  When  these 
forms,  which  are  in  the  image  of  marriage,  are  thus  created, 
those  individuals  in  whom  they  exist,  to  a  certain  extent  share 
in  the  blessings  of  a  special  protection.  Upon  the  nuptial 
organs  themselves  there  rests  a  sphere  of  the  holiness  of  the  In- 
finite. It  is  through  these  organs,  in  conjunction  with  the  con- 
jugial in  the  will  and  the  understanding,  that  the  new  creation 
is  carried  on.  It  was  the  most  ancient  custom  of  taking  oaths, 
for  the  man  to  be  sworn  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  not  by 
laying  his  hand  upon  the  manuscript  of  the  Word,  but  by 
placing  it  between  the  thighs  of  the  one  to  whom  he  made  it. 
This  was  because  from  the  most  ancient  times  the  knowledge 
subsisted,  that  the  sacredness  of  the  person,  and  the  most 
plenary  presence  of  the  life  of  God,  centered  thus,  both  with 
the  woman  and  the  man.  The  remains  of  this  truth,  finally 
inverted,  led  to  the  worship  of  the  organs  of  generation. 

434.  Now  if,  when  struggling,  suff"ering  individuals  be- 
gin to  be  opened  to  the  powers  of  the  life  which  is  to  come. 


234  AUGANA    OF   CniilSTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

tliey  cau  daro  to  say  to  God,  ''  Purity  is  my  desire  above  all 
tilings,  and  I  had  ratlier  enter  into  life  sexless,  than  ever  feel 
or  respond  to  the  scortatory  passion  ; ''  if,  in  a  word,  they  can 
dare  to  invoke  God  in  the  generative  organs,  and  as  the  most 
contrite  and  heart-broken  and  self-hating  and  yearning  of 
penitents,  desire  to  receive  Him  in  the  depths  of  the  moral 
nature ;  if,  finally,  they  can,  from  the  depths  and  in  the  fulness 
of  their  being,  carry  the  regenerative  yearning  into  the  gene- 
rative system  that  it  may  concentre  there,  they  have  touched 
the  first  point  of  safety. 

435.  God  answers  this  desire  in  different  ways,  both  to  the 
woman  and  to  the  man ;  answers  it  as  He  answers  all  true 
prayer,  by  giving  Himself  in  that  form  and  manner,  and  with 
that  specialty  of  life  that  shall  accomplish  His  own  ends, 
which  are  regeneration.  Further  arcana  on  this  point  should 
not  be  written  for  the  indiscrimiuate  public,  they  belong  to 
the  husbands  and  wives  in  the  "  Brotherhood  of  the  New  Life." 
It  is  perfectly  impossible  for  men  and  women  to  advance 
beyond  a  preliminary  stage  without  such  knowledges.  Their 
profanation  would  increase,  in  some  cases,  a  thousand-fold  the 
powers  for  evil  possessed  by  bad  men  and  women  in  the  world. 
They  are  knowledges  which  are  ineffectual  for  the  good,  unless 
the  modes  of  deliverance  from  scortation  which  they  specify 
can  be  put  in  operation,  and  the  key  to.  their  practical  out- 
working is  found  alone  in  ultimate  associated  industry.  It 
may  as  well  be  stated  in  plain  words ;  there  is  no  deliverance 
from  scortation  except  through  one  of  two  processes.  By 
means  of  asceticism  the  sex  passion  can  be  killed;  men  can 
become  eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  other  process 
is  sexual  regeneration ;  but  this  is  impossible,  save  in  the 
Lord's  new  harmony  ;  and  only  possible  for  those  who  live  in 
its  spirit,  and  keep  its  laws,  and  labour  for  its  ends  with  an 
absolute  and  supreme  devotion. 

436.  The  second  thing  upon  which  safety  depends,  in  the 
case  of  one  coming  into  respiration,  is,  so  far  as  the  spirit  of 
the  will  is  concerned,  to  empty  one's  self  of  selfism  and  fami- 
lism,  in  place  of  self  to  put  God,  and  in  place  of  the  family  His 
new  harmony.  Now  it  is  impossible  to  keep  the  former,  or  the 
conjugial  fact,  without  conforming  to  the  latter  or  harmonic 


SEC.  435—439]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  235 


social  and  industrial  fact.  The  nuptial  organs  cannot  be  re- 
generated, cannot,  in  fact,  begin  to  be  regenerated,  -svithout 
the  special  operation  of  Deity,  and  the  processes  which  He  thus 
institutes.  All  fail,  even  after  their  initiament,  unless  con- 
jugial  holiness  is  completed  through  associated  holiness.  We 
are  now  touching  on  the  most  fearful  problems,  not  alone  of 
this  tinle,^  but  of  all  times. 

437.  Now  through  the  formation  of  these  new  organs,  in  the 
organs,  the  divine  influx  fights  there  effectually.  If  the  man  is 
maiTied  to  a  wife  who  is  scortatory,  or  in  that  state  of  cold  nup- 
tial death,  which  is  the  result  of  scortation,  through  this  life  of 
God  in  his  frame,  let  down  and  held  in  the  manner  spoken  of, 
he  may  continue  to  dwell  with  her  and  maintain  such  relations 
as  are  requisite ;  just  as  an  angel  may  live  in  the  lower  Spiritual 
Earth  or  even  go  down  into  Hell,  for  ends  of  use  and  order. 
It  is  a -grand  and  heroic  school.  Here  are  painful  ordeals, 
wonderful  experiences,  glorious  victories.  Enough  is  here 
said  to  indicate  the  path  of  truth,  and  those  who  require  ex- 
tensions of  the  truth  for  divine  purposes,  will  know  where  to 
look  for  more  ;  but,  to  the  general  world,  nothing  further  will 
be  afforded. 

438.  When  a  woman  is  thus  opened,  and  her  husband  con- 
tinues in  his  old  condition,  her  case  is  different,  being  bodily 
the  receptive  vessel.  For  her  more  is  done  by  our  Lord  than 
for  the  man,  for  she  needs  more.  There  is  a  power,  by  means 
of  which  the  poisons  from  the  sphere  of  a  scortatory  husband 
may  be  neutralised.  There  is  a  power,  even  by  which  he  may 
be  reduced  to  order ;  and,  if  germs  of  good  are  in  him,  be  made 
celestially  chaste,  and  afterward  be  revivified  in  the  new  life. 
Upon  this  point  the  Sisterhood  in  the  New  Life  will  always  be 
ready  to  impart  such  information  to  those  of  their  sex  as  shall 
conduce  to  dehverance  and  established  righteousness. 

439.  "  And  the  last  more  than  the  first.^'  The  arcana  here 
are  voluminous,  but  for  the  most  part  of  too  sacred  a  character 
for  publication  in  a  work  designed  for  general  circulation.  It  is 
through  the  formation  of  the  Conjugial  Sisterhood,  in  the  new 
life,  that  these  divine  charities  are  organized,  dispensed,  and 
made  effectual.  A  few  words  concerning  the  organization  of 
the  Sisterhood  are  here  in  place.    When  our  Lord  said,  "  Thou 


236  ARCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITY.  [cuap.  ii. 

slialt  love  tlio  Lord  tliy  God  witli  all  tliy  heart,  mind,  and 
strength,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,  and  on  these  two  com- 
mandments hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets,'^  He  enunciated 
the  fundamental  law  of  His  new  harmony.  But  no  person  of 
cither  sex  can  love  the  Lord  with  all  the  heart,  mind,  soul 
and  strength,  without  becoming  both  a  will,  an  understanding, 
and  a  person,  in  Avhom  conjugial  love  is  tabernacled,  enshrined, 
ensouled,  and  embodied ;  and  no  person  can  love  the  neighbour 
as  the  self,  unless  that  love,  in  like  manner,  becomes  the  aflFec- 
tion  for  unity,  fraternity,  solidarity,  association,  and  co-opera- 
tive harmony.  Fm-thermore,  as  these  conjoint  loves  sweep 
through  the  frame,  they  remove  all  obstacles;  sin,  disease, 
infestation,  decay,  and  a  tendency  to  premature  dissolution. 
On  these,  as  a  foundation,  rests  harmonic  society  in  Heaven. 

440.  Chastity  and  solidarity ;  the  latter  the  outgrowth  of  the 
former,  the  means  for  its  extension,  its  perpetuity,  its  perfec- 
tion ;  the  former  the  central  hfe,  the  vital  force,  the  organiz- 
ing power,  the  distributive  element,  the  perpetually  sanctifying 
quality  in  the  latter ; — chastity  and  solidarity ; — these  are  the 
alpha  and  omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  first  and  the 
last  of  righteousness.  Chastity  and  solidarity ; — words  to  be 
inscribed  in  letters  of  gold  over  the  entrance  of  the  new  Chris- 
tian home  ;  inseparable  principles  and  powers,  neither  possible 
in  a  full  and  ultimated  sense,  without  the  co-operation  of  the 
other  !  The  wives  in  the  new  order  become  married  chastities ; 
in  the  perfection  of  their  state  they  are  as  the  angels  of  God 
in  Heaven.  They  know,  through  their  unition  with  the  In- 
finite Divine  Bridegroom,  and  through  the  possession  of  the 
conjugial  sense,  which  is  the  sense  of  purity ;  they  know,  prac- 
tically, and  in  detail  from  day  to  day,  by  what  means  in  each 
society  into  which  they  are  gathered,  first,  how  solidarity  is  to 
be  maintained,  second  how  elevated,  and  third  how  multiplied. 
Disorder,  as  it  approaches,  first  attacks  the  conjugial  sense. 
Why  has  God  made  the  most  sacred  of  the  bodily  organs  the 
most  sensitive  in  the  system  of  the  frame  ?  It  is  because,  sin 
being  removed,  they  are  magnets ;  they  tremble  for  evermore 
towards  Himself,  their  pole  star.  The  wives  in  the  new  life 
dwell  perpetually  as  in  the  bosom  of  the  Infinite  Bridegroom. 
There  is  not  an  atom  in  tlieii-  frames  but  that  vibrates  musically 
to  the  whispers  of  the  Infinite  affection. 


SEC.  440—442.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  237 

441.  It  lias  been  said  tliat  tlie  husbands  in  Heaven  are 
organs  or  sensoriums  for  tlie  inflowing   of  tbe   affections  of 
their  wives.      But  as  the  new  womanhood  arises^  the  wives  on 
earth  who  are  celestial-natui-al^  are  grouped  in  series  in  their 
societies,   and  not    disjoinedly   but    adjoinedly  and   in   their 
solidarity.      The    composite    womanly  organism  becomes,    in 
turn,  one  multiplied  sensorium  and  complex  organic  system 
for  the  inflowing  of  the   affections   of  Almighty  God.     In  a 
word,   the  hand    of  woman  holds  the  key  that  unlocks  the 
harmonies,  but  the  body  of  woman  is  the  temple  that  includes 
the  harmonies.     All  of  the  wives  of  a  society  are  as  one  wife ; 
there  is  a  perfect  blending  of  the  womanly  individualities  into 
one  composite  individuality;    the   confidences  between  them 
are  perfect ;  the  relations  between  them  are  ineffable  ;  there  is 
a  marriage  between  themselves  of  attributes  from  heart  to 
heart.     She  among  them  in  whom  the  conjugial  life  is  most 
perfect,  most  intense,  most  exquisite,  because  most  blossomed, 
as  an  opened  lily  on  the  still  waters  in  the  heart  of  God,  she  is 
by  common  consent   and  recognition  a  sister,   yet  a  queen. 
They  are  gathered  together  as  the  petals  in   one  blossom ; 
however  diverse  may  be  the  rayings  forth  of  each   special  in- 
dividuality, they  aU  meet  in  their  centre,  growing  from  a  com- 
mon point  where  the  Divine  conjugial  life  of  the  Lord  branches 
forth  into  them.     They  constitute,  in  their  collective  unity,  a 
household  sun,  which  becomes  a  societary  sun,  a  national  sun, 
and  finally  a  planetary   sun.     This  is  the  tree  which  burns 
with  its  proceeding  flames,  refulgent  and  heat  dispensing,  but 
unconsumed  and  unconsumable  to   eternity,  because   God  is 
in  the  midst  of  it  and  reveals  Himself  in  His  conjugial  fire. 
This  fire  in  which  they  dwell   strikes   the  demon   who   ap- 
proaches  with   horror;    it   withers    up    the    faculties   of    the 
scortatory  who  invade  such  thrice  sacred  precincts ;  it  at  once 
attracts  those  in  whom  the  principles  of  chastity  and  solidarity 
have  place,  and  repulses  those  in  whom  they  are  deficient. 

442.  Man  by  himself  alone  may  organize  the  shell,  the  ap- 
pearance of  harmony,  but  it  never  becomes  a  reality  of  har- 
mony till  filled  and  possessed  by  the  womanhood  whom  God, 
even  the  most  High  God,  has  purified  and  consecrated,  and 
whom  He  loves  and  in  whose  midst  He  appears.    On  the  other 


238  ARCAIfA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 


hand,  a  harmony  for  woman  alone  is  impossible ;  the  one  sex 
comes  up  to  the  Divine  Presence  and  to  the  feast  of  everlasting 
days  embosomed  in  the  other.  The  Lord  appears  in  the  midst 
of  them,  and  says,  "  My  sheep  hear  My  voice  and  follow  Me." 
The  young  man  finds  here  an  embodied  motherhood,  through 
which,  with  outstretched  hands  and  yearning  bosom,  leans 
forth  the  thrice  ineffable  and  awful  Motherhood  of  God.  Dur- 
ing the  trying  time  of  youthful  life,  the  immaculate  chastity 
of  the  Infinite  Motherhood  descends  to  him  through  the 
shielding  and  sheltering  embodiment  of  maternity.  Here, 
step  by  step,  and  stage  after  stage,  the  dear  and  tender  little 
boys,  infantile  priests  of  holiness,  guided  and  clothed  upon 
with  living  and  elemental  spheres,  clearer  than  diamond  and 
sweeter  than  all  floral  incense,  are  led,  until  they  stand  at  last 
hand-joined,  because  heart-joined,  to  the  sweet  maidens  who 
are  prepared  for  them,  and  are  initiated  into  the  bosom  of 
those  mysteries  which  eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard,  and 
which  it  hath  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive, 
but  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.  Fall 
thou  upon  thy  knees,  0  listening  spirit,  veil  thy  face  in  the 
dust  at  the  feet  of  this  embodied  chastity  !  The  best  of  mortal 
men  can  only  approach  this  shrine  as  did  the  publican  of 
old,  falling  upon  his  face,  and  crying,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me 
a  sinner.'^     More  hereafter  under  the  head  of  series. 

443.  Not  all  are  called  to  this  order  at  the  present  time. 
Devout  men  and  women  may  read  this,  whose  relations  and 
obligations  are  such  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  them  to  share 
in  the  earthly  realizations  of  the  divine  life.  Many  also  will 
read  and  be  charmed  and  convinced,  but  who  it  is  sadly  to  be 
feared  will  never  ripen  into  fruit.  Many,  especially,  who  have 
been  accustomed  to  a  refined  and  exclusive  life,  will  accept 
the  truth  of  coujugial  chastity  as  a  most  vital  and  infinitely 
desirable  thing ;  but  they  will  be  unable  to  receive  it  and  to 
become  divinely  conjugial  in  the  absolute  sense,  because,  from 
the  habits  of  life  and  the  force  of  education,  as  well  as  from 
inversive  social  complications,  they  will  be  unable  fully  to  ac- 
cept and  embody  the  complemental  truth  of  solidarity.  They 
will  rot  down  bodily  amidst  the  putrefactions  of  the  accursed 
inversive  social  system  of  Christendom,  because  they  have  not 


SEC.  443—445.]         THE   AFOCALYPSK  239 

moral  fortitude  to  touch,  tlie  hand  of  that  great  Christ,  who 
comes  as  He  came  of  old,  not  to  repair  an  old  social  system, 
but  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new ;  yea,  to  make  all  things 
new.  Here,  too,  wives  will  stand  between  the  desiring  eyes  of 
their  husbands  and  the  tree  of  life ;  and  here  husbands  will 
put  fetters  on  the  feet  of  their  wives,  lest  they  should  walk  in 
the  path  to  paradise,  and  deaden  their  minds  and  corrupt  their 
bodies  with  the  emanations  that  distil  from  Hell. 

444.  Another  class  who  read  will  eminently  prize  the  truth 
of  solidarity,  but  they  will  be  principally  from  among  those 
who  have  not  blossomed  £esthetically  in  the  midst  of  dainty 
refinements,  and  whose  natures  have  been  coarsened,  and 
whose  finer  feelings  been  worn  away  by  contact  with  the 
greeds  and  sordors  which  obtain  in  the  great  marts  of  labour. 
Alas,  there  is  no  solidarity  possible  for  man; — say,  rather, 
blessed  be  God,  there  is  no  solidarity  possible  for  him,  but 
through  that  chastity  which  is  its  vital  essence.  Fourier  saw 
it,  but  is  dead ;  and  the  monument  above  his  remains  is  com- 
posed of  the  ruins  of  every  phalanstery.  Owen  saw  it  in 
another,  a  communal  form,  and  lived  to  be  for  years  the  grey- 
haired  solitary  mourner  over  deceased  communism.  What 
shall  be  said  more  ?  The  Perfectionists  of  America  have  seen 
it,  as  Satan  saw  the  possibilities  of  an  harmonic  civilization 
growing  out  of  systematized  and  organized  libidinousness. 
They  have  yielded  to  that  tempter  whom  Christ  overcame,  and 
have  fallen  down  and  worshipped  Lucifer,  in  the  embodiment 
of  the  infernal  sexual  principle ;  and  he  has  promised  them, 
as  if  he  were  God,  the  pleasures  and  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world ;  but  those  who  see  them  rioting  now  in  the  incipiency 
of  a  prosperity  which  they  deem  shall  be  lasting  as  the  sun, 
shall  yet  stand  afar  off,  and  behold  the  smoke  of  their  burning, 
when  the  mystery  of  their  iniquity  shall  have  been  fully 
revealed. 

445.  The  dear  and  worthy  Shakers  have  seen  it ;  they  have 
taken  into  their  hearts  the  fact  that  scortation  is  a  serpent  that 
stings  even  to  the  second  death,  and  that  social  antagonism  is 
the  result  of  disorderly  sex-relations.  They  have  based  a  system 
on  the  negation  of  sex  and  the  annihilation  of  individual  in- 
terest.    Their  chastity  has  been  denied  by  the  vile,  and  their 


210  ABCANA   OF  CIIRISTIANITT.         [chap.  ir. 

sincerity  and  honesty  doubted  by  the  religionists  ;  but,  upon  a 
ground  hedged  in  by  the  necessary  limitations  of  their  theory, 
who  shall  dare  to  say  that  their  work  has  not  been  faithful  and 
praiseworthy  ?  Yet  starved  hearts  and  lonely  lives,  affectional 
want  in  the  midst  of  material  abundance,  stamp  their  system 
as,  on  the  positive  ground,  a  failure.  Chastity  and  solidarity 
are  not  negations  but  affirmations.  Those  who  enter  into 
them  require  no  espionage ;  the  greatness  of  the  new  harmony 
does  not  require  the  smallness  of  the  individual,  but  greatness 
grows  by  greatness  ;  and  the  royalty  and  magnificence  of  the 
system  are  the  radiations  of  the  royalty  and  magnificence  of 
wifely  women  and  husbandly  men. 

446.  Co-operative  industry  and  associated  life  are  repulsive 
to  those  who  have  been  brought  up  in  king's  houses,  who  are 
clothed  in  purple  and  in  fine  linen,  and  who  fare  sumptuously 
every  day  ;  though,  as  was  said  before,  the  best  among  them, 
when  enlightened,  can  receive  the  truth  of  conjugial  chastity 
and  can  desire  and  accept  it  as  the  very  crown  and  complement 
of  all  their  felicities.  Never  having  practically  known  the 
agonies  of  the  industrial  classes,  however  ideally  they  may 
have  sympathized  with  them,  the  thought  of  becoming  artisans 
themselves  is,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  more  terrible  than  being 
killed  for  their  religion  by  a  swift  death.  Great  examples  are 
needed.  When  cultm-ed  and  high-placed  ladies  and  gentle- 
men take  to  living  the  divine  life,  they  will  break  the  social 
sphere  which  holds  myriads  of  the  most  refined  and  sensitive, 
the  fairest  blossoms  of  the  garden  of  humanity,  in  bondage. 
Their  example,  in  due  time,  as  they  become  a  resplendent  soli- 
darity, will  afiect  mankind  throughout  Christendom  as  if  Christ 
bodily  had  again  risen  from  the  grave.  ^ 

447.  It  is  no  sacrifice  for  the  masses  to  struggle  for  soli- 
darity, since,  socially,  they  have  everything  to  gain  thereby, 
and  nothing  to  lose.  But  for  those  who  already  enjoy  the 
visible  beauty,  affluence,  culture,  and  repose,  which  are  the 
very  efflorescence  and  fruitfulness  of  civilization,  to  pass  out  of 
a  dignified  seclusion  into  solidarity,  does,  without  doubt,  in- 
volve many  sacrifices ;  yet  it  is  easier  to  accept  solidarity  from 
a  prior  conviction  of  the  greater  worth  of  conjugial  chastity, 
with  all  that  it  involves,  than  it  is  to  accept  chastity  from  a 


SEC.  446—448.]  TRi:   APOCALYFSJE.  241 

prior  conviction  of  the  worth,  of  solidarity.  For  solidarity  is 
the  body  of  which  chastity  is  the  soul,  the  viialising  and  in- 
forming essence.  Throngs  of  artisans  will  fail,  because  never 
having  been  accustomed  to  the  refinements,  the  elegancies, 
and  the  comforts  which  are  the  fruits  of  co-operative  industry, 
they  will  fix  their  eyes  on  these  things  as  ends,  and  become 
worshippers  of  them ;  or,  if  this  saying  is  too  hard,  the  utmost 
modification  permitted  is  to  say,  that  herein  will  consist  their 
great  temptation. 

448.  It  is  harder  for  the  high-placed  than  the  lowly  to 
accept  the  form  in  which  the  divine  order  comes ;  but  easier 
in  another  sense.  To  those  who  have  known  and  mingled  with 
worldly  society,  and  fathomed  its  depths,  and  tasted  its  quali- 
ties, that  worldly  society  offers  no  more  temptation.  The 
temptation  is  to  those  who  never  have  entered  its  charmed 
precincts,  who  never  have  inhaled  its  subtle,  and  at  first 
delicious  aromas.  To  those  who  have  held  power,  and  exer- 
cised a  large  authority  in  the  world,  a  dominant  position  is 
felt  simply  as  a  burden.  There  are  no  crowns  in  the  world 
but  that  in  some  sense  are  crowns  of  thorns.  It  is  the  man 
who  has  not  tasted  power  who  is  liable  to  be  tempted  by  it, 
and  to  find  in  its  cup,  not  refreshment,  but  intoxication.  To 
those  who  have  never  been  narrowed  in  their  expenses  by  a 
hard  and  rigid  penury,  but  who  have  enjoyed  habitually  an 
easy  affluence,  wealth  does  not  possess  the  fascination  that  it 
does  to  those  who  have  toiled  strenuously  for  daily  bread. 
The  vision  of  wealth  is  overpowering  to  the  indigent,  but  the 
fortunate  know  that  riches  are  spiritually  an  illusion.  Those 
accustomed  to  elegancies  are  not  bewildered  by  them  as  those 
are  who  have  been  circumscribed  by  painful  needs ;  hence  the 
lofty  in  the  new  age  are  saved  many  of  the  temptations  which 
beset  and  almost  overpower  the  lowly.  Their  temptation  is 
threefold ;  first,  a  shrinking  from  industry  in  itself  and  as  a 
use ;  second,  from  the  associations  that  grow  out  of  a  divine 
fellowship  in  industry;  and  third,  from  censure,  from  criti- 
cisms, from  ridicule,  and  from  the  loss  of  caste.  Again,  it  is  a 
safe  thing,  as  far  as  the  world  goes,  to  hold  a  doctrine  specu- 
latively ;  but  the  danger  comes  when  it  begins  to  be  held 
practically.     It  is  one  thing  for  a  gentleman  to  talk  Utopia  in 


212  ABCANA   OF  CIIBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ir. 

a  circle  of  clioice  intimates  after  dinner  and  over  tlie  wine,  and 
quite  another  thing  to  throw  the  whole  life  into  efforts  for  the 
realization  of  Utopia.  In  one  case  he  is  called  a  man  of  fine 
imagination,  but  in  the  other  a  fanatic,  an  agitator,  and  a 
fool. 

449.  Again,  with  much  show  of  reason,  men  in  their  early- 
states  may  say,  "  We  know  that  chastity,  in  its  highest  sense, 
is  a  divine  thing ;  we  can  seek  for  this  with  no  disturbance  of 
relations ;  but  solidarity  is  the  unsolved   problem  of  all  ages, 
the  Isis  whose  face  has  never  been  unveiled.     It  has  been  the 
crucial  test  of  all  systems,  and  all  have  failed  when  they  have 
made  efforts  for  its  realization."     The  teacher  of  divine  things 
is  looked  up  to  with  a  reverence,  so  long  as  his  countenance 
wears  the  glory  of  the  transfiguration,  and  he  discom*ses  of  the 
beauty  of  holiness  without  laying  bare  the  unholiness  in  the 
hearts  of  his  listeners,  which  can  only  be   removed  by  the 
heroism  of  strenuous  deeds.     But  when  he  says,  "  Come,  now, 
follow  in  the  path  wherein  I  tread,"  men  take  the  alarm,  and 
soon  begin  to  cry,  "  This  is  a  fanatical  fellow  who  would  lead 
us  out  to  perish  in  the  wilderness."    And  once  more ;  so  many 
illusions  have  arisen  in  the  progress  of  Christianity,  that  men 
have  lost  confidence  in  their  ability  to  discriminate  between 
illusion  and  reality,  and  as  a  rule  will  risk  themselves  for 
eternity  upon  the  verity  of  faiths  for  which  they  dare  not  take 
risks  in  time.     Considerations  such  as  these  have  necessarily 
great  weight ;  and  yet  the  obstructions  which  they  interpose 
are  but  temporary.     The  embodiment  of  the  new  life,  in  social 
harmony,  will  afford,  what  no  theory  of  religion  can  otherwise 
give,  an  actual,  tangible,  vital,  practical  demonstration.     By 
their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them. 

450.  Higher  being  involves  higher  doing;  but,  in  turn,  higher 
doing  is  a  necessity  without  which  higher  being  is  sufibcated 
and  abolished.  The  Lord  saith  to  the  lofty  who  seek  conjugial 
purity,  "  Take  it,  take  it  freely,  take  it  all ;  though  its  orbs 
are  as  the  constellations  and  its  expanses  are  as  the  firma- 
ments, take  it  all."  He  holds  back  nothing.  Is  there  vigour 
in  the  bosom  of  All-Father?  Is  there  sweetness  on  the 
lip  of  All-Mother  ?  Are  there  joys  that  embosom  angels  in 
their  felicity,  and  that  kindle  suns  by  their  reflected  intensity  ? 


SEC.  449—451.]         TSE   APOCALTFSE.  243 

Still  He  says,  "  Take  them,  I  keep  back  nothing  of  my  store. 
I,  the  Most  High  God,  for  this  became  incarnate,  and  for  this 
iu  that  humanity  was  glorified ;  but  the  price,  the  condition  of 
conjugial  purity,  is  strenuous  labour  for  universal  solidarity/' 
This  saith  that  Most  High  God ;  but  He  also  saith  to  the  lowly, 
"  0  ye  oppressed,  ye  ground  between  the  wheels,  and  ye 
trodden  beneath  the  horse  hoofs,  ye  to  whom  life  offers  little 
beyond  a  daily  and  cruel  battle  against  daily  and  cruel  and 
ever-recurring  and  material  needs ;  ye  ask  the  formal  harmo- 
nies of  my  upper  kingdom,  its  organized  industries,  its  grate- 
ful recompenses,  an  industry  carried  on  as  amidst  the  bowers 
and  beside  the  streams  of  paradise.  Lo,  I  keep  back  nothino- ! 
Whatever  there  is  sumptuous  and  beautiful,  whatever  there  is 
felicitous  and  uplifting,  whatever  there  is  sure  and  steadfast 
and  enduring  in  the  civilization  of  the  harmonic  and  unfallen 
worlds,  I  deny  none  of  these  things.  See,  I  throw  open  the 
gateways  of  Eden,  and  the  angel  stands  with  the  flamy  sword, 
not  to  debar  you  from  entering  within  those  portals,  but  to 
smite  down  the  enemies  who  rise  against  you,  and  to  lead  you 
and  your  wives  and  your  little  ones  where  the  fountains  flow 
with  immortality,  and  the  fruits  are  of  the  tree  of  life.  But 
^e  condition  of  solidarity  is  conjugial  purity ;  without  this,  the 
apples  are  not  of  Eden  but  of  Sodom ;  without  this,  ye  are  as 
men  who  dream  that  they  feast,  yet  die  meanwhile  of  hunger ; 
ye  are  like  men  who  imagine  to  themselves  that  they  are  en- 
tering into  a  land  of  fountains,  of  gardens,  and  of  palaces,  but 
who  are  mocked  by  mirage,  and  perish  in  the  desert.'^  O 
Thou  most  merciful  God  and  Lord  Christ,  Thy  words  are 
true;  help  us,  that  we  perish  not  of  illusion  and  unbelief  ! 


riFTEENTH  ILLUSTEATION. 

'j'lie  Heaven  of  Ancient  Israel. — Messages  to  the  Hebrew  race  on  eartli. — 
Prouiises  for  tlium. — Tlie  Heaven  of  ancient  Syria,  and  niauifesta- 
tions  tlierein. 

451.  I  stood  in  Heaven,  far  to  the  east;  it  was  a  Celestial  Hea- 
ven. The  vast  amphitheatre  of  hills  which  formed  the  back- 
ground and,  like  a  crescent^  enclosed  the  scene,  shone  with 
palaces;  but  in  the  foreground  were  tents  blue  and  purple, 

Q  2 


2U  ABCANA    OF  CnBISTIANITT.        [chap.  n. 

beneath  spreadiuj^-  trees  like  cedars  of  Lebanon.  A  moist  fra- 
grance rose  from  tlieground^beneatli  the  cool  and  grateful  shade. 
Heading  from  an  ancient  scroll,  at  the  door  of  the  first  tent 
which  I  approached,  sat  an  angel,  who  rose  with  the  saluta- 
tion, "  Blessed  is  he  who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.^-* 
I  replied,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  receiveth  a  little  one  in  tho 
name  of  a  little  one.^'  He  answered,  "baracha,^'  in  the  He- 
brew tongue,  substituting  it  for  the  celestial  dialect,  that  I 
might  know  that  he  had  been  on  earth  of  that  nation.  A 
matron  came  forth  and  he  bade  her  make  welcome.  She  took 
fine  flour,  a  Hebrew  measure  full,  and  kneaded  dough  with  her 
own  beautiful  hands,  baking  it  afterward,  and  sprinkling  the 
unleavened  cake  with  a  sweet  powder,  diffusing  a  delicious 
odour  through  the  place.  As  the  smoke  went  up  from  the 
bread,  the  apartment  became  illumined  with  a  rosy  light,  and 
the  two,  speaking  in  one  voice,  said,  "  Eat  the  bread  of  God ; 
may  it  do  you  good." 

452.  After  this  introduction,  I  said  to  them,  "  What  is  new 
in  this  Heaven  ?  "  To  which  the  answer  was  returned,  "This  is 
new ;  we  are  appointed  to  descend  to  ancient  Israel,  scattered 
throughout  the  nations  upon  the  earth ;  that  the  sons  may  re- 
turn to  Jehovah,  and  the  daughters  to  His  law.  This  is  the 
beginning  of  that  day  whereof  we  read,  '  It  shall  come  to  pass 
in  the  last  days,  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord''s  house  shall  be 
established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  unto  it.'  Therefore,  such  as  are  celestial  angels  from  the 
tribes  of  Israel,  overshadow  the  remnants  that  survive,  till  Mes- 
siah shall  appear.^'  I  responded,  ''How  do  you  expect  Messiah 
to  appear  ? ''  "  Lo,"  said  the  husband,  "  the  Man  V  At  this  I 
fell  prostrate.  God  appeared  in  His  Divine-human  form,  and  a 
cloud  of  amber  sm'rounded  Him;  then  these  words  were  given 
me  to  say  to  the  wives  of  the  daughters  of  Judah,  "  Declare  the 
days  of  your  languishment.  Behold,  if  ye  will,  I  will  end  them  ; 
the  beautiful  pomegranate  shall  be  between  thy  knees;  and 
the  princes  be  fed  from  thy  bosom.  I  will  open  the  womb  with 
holiness  seven-fold.  I  will  make  you  a  glory  to  the  nations. 
Wherever  ye  dwell  I  will  dwell  with  you.  I  am  JAH."  I 
rose  afterward  and  found  the  angel  and  his  wife  bathed  in  the 
tears  of  a  new  joy  too  great  for  words.    May  He  who  gave  the 


SEC.  452—454.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  245 

message  add    confirmation  to  those  of  Israel,  to  wliom  this 
utterance  may  come  ! 

453.  I  was  afterward  in  an  ancient  Syrian  Heaven,  which 
overshadows  Damascus,  and  is  also  celestial ;  and  there  I  re- 
mained for  many  days  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  country, 
eating  and  drinking,  as  is  their  custom,  and  receiving  gifts. 
I  gi'ew  to  be  delighted  more  than  I  can  tell  with  their  sweet 
air.  Here  I  met  a  man  who  was  so  changed  since  he  left  the 
natural  world  that  I  know  not  how  to  narrate  of  him.  In  the 
midst  of  tropical  scenery  stands  a  palace  of  cedar  wood.  Roses 
and  myrtles  perfume  the  air,  mingled  with  white  oleanders ;  the 
nightingales  sing  all  night  long.  John  Bunyan  abides  in  this 
place,  and  seldom  appears  with  such  as  have  become  angels  of 
the  English  nation.  He  was  of  the  fervid  oriental  genius,  both 
of  the  heart  and  of  the  imagination ;  the  remembrances  of  his 
former  state  are  curiously  intermingled  with  the  realities  of  his 
present  joy.  A  dear,  meek  woman,  his  wife,  startled  me  by 
gliding  in  an  instant  from  the  costume  of  an  Enghsh  woman 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  into  the  flowing  graceful  robes  of 
the  consort  of  an  oriental  prince.  She  became,  in  her  enhanced 
beauty,  these  flowing  garments  right  well. 

454.  Among  the  companions  of  Bunyan  are  orientals  of  this 
ancient  Heaven,  whom  I  Avould  term  artists  in  metaphor ;  and 
I  here  saw  a  Christian  version  of  many  of  the  marvellous  ro- 
mantic legends  which  survive  in  the  "Arabian  Nights  Enter- 
tainments." Bunyan  made  me  a  present  of  a  turquoise  ring, 
and  said,  "  The  quality  of  this  precious  jewel  is  this  :  it  is  a 
crystallized  drop  from  the  sea  of  the  celestial  solar  light,  whence- 
descends  the  vivifying  property  of  the  natural  sun.  Tou  re- 
ceive here  a  talisman,  which,  when  you  perceive  it  upon  your 
finger,  with  the  celestial  sight,  will  enable  you  to  summon 
the  twelve  representative  spirits  of  our  Heaven,  who  preside 
over  tales  of  enchantment  and  of  transformation,  for  the  delec- 
tation of  the  children  of  the  new  age  ;  but  use  it  carefully  as 
the  Holy  Ghost  inspires  you."  His  wife  added,  "Go  to  Bedford 
jail ;  think  of  where  he  was  ;  "  alluding  to  her  husband,  "  and 
where  he  is  now,  and  let  the  thought  instil  comfort  into  your 
own  bosom."  This  talismanic  gift,  since  my  return,  I  have 
not  yet  scon,  but  am  conscious  of  its  possession. 


21G  ABC  ANA   OF  CUEISTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

455.  The  harmonic  woman   upon  the  inifallcn  orbs  must  bo 
the  ty^Q  and  pattern  of  the  woman  of  the  new  ago  who  breathes 
with  open  respiration.     They  all  with  inner  eyes  perceive  the 
glorious  Divine  Person,  and  know  that  He  is  the  Lord  and  that 
all  their  life  is  a  gift  from  Ilim.     But  they  know  as  well  that 
evil  spirits,   once  inhabitants    of   an  orb,  have    seduced  tho 
womanhood  of  our  planet  into  unfaithfulness  to  the  Bridegroom. 
There  are  upon  the  orb  Jupiter,  religious  structures  of  vast 
extent,  wherein  those  who  arc  privileged  to  enter  may  behold, 
not  alone  the  scenery  of  our  natural  earth,  but  also  the  terrible 
desolations  which  afflict  its  inhabitants.     This  is  effected  by  a 
species  of  nerve-vision,  of  which  statements  must  appear  else- 
where.    The  earth  appears  to'  them  symbolically  clothed  in 
black  garments   and  weeping.     Frequently  they  contemplate 
the  spectacle  of  wrongs  inflicted  on  woman  through  slavery, 
polygamy,  want,  oppression,  legislation,  and  the  various  bru- 
talities of  the  male  sex,  and  always  with  the  clear  perception 
that  it  results  from  the  alienation  of  the  universal  feminine 
principle  of    our  earth  from  the  Divine  Life.     Nothing  but 
opened  respii^ation,  whereby  the  Divine  breath  descends  to 
renew  the  body,  illumine  the  mind,  and  inspire  tho  whole  being 
with  chastity,  is  able  to  establish  the  new  era  for  the  woman- 
hood of  our  race.     The  stupidity  of  the  husbands  on  earth,  the 
wise  women  of  Jupiter  declare  to  be  caused  by  the  suppression 
of  heart-life  upon  the  part   of  the  mves.     Womanhood  con- 
trols the  manhood  of  every  unfallen  planet  with  gentle  sway. 
Living  with  the  one  divine  end  before  them,  the  impregnation  of 
every  thought  and  feeling  from  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the  Lord, 
the  husbands  become  bodies,  in  which  their  affections  con- 
tinually take  form ;  since,  as  was  said  before,  it  is  the  wonmn^s 
office   spiritually  to  impregnate  the  man.     Until  the  law  of 
spiritual    impregnations   is   known   and   practised,    man   will 
scarcely  be  able  to  rise.     UjDon  this  depends  the  evolution  of 
the  victorious  intellect  which  sways  the  sceptre  of  the  mundane 
sphere. 

456.  The  good  Mussulman,  to  whom  the  tidings  of  the  new 
age  of  humanity  is  brought,  will  instantly  bring  to  a  close  the 
polygamic  relations  permitted  by  the  faith  of  Islam.  On  the 
approach  of  internal  respiration,  his  first  care  Vv  ill  be  to  restore 


SEC.  455—457.]         THE  AFOCALTFSK  24.'7 

tlie  female  inmates  of  his  dwelling  to  absolute  liloerty;  guard- 
ing them,  however,  against  the  evils  to  which  they  might  be 
liable  from  the  fanaticism  of  devotees  and  the  general  inver- 
sions of  society.  Polygamic  marriage  is  no  marriage.  The 
women  with  whom  he  thus  stands  related  being  enfranchised, 
his  next  care  will  be  wisely  and  cautiously  to  introduce  into 
their  midst  some  woman  of  the  new  age,  in  whom  internal 
respiration  has  begun.  The  presence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  co- 
piously descending  in  the  living  breath  of  charity,  will  bring 
to  light  the  buried  heavens  of  womanly  affection,  and  the  dead 
Islamism  give  place  to  vital  Christianity.  That  a  new  breathing 
state  has  come  into  the  world,  that  the  Divine  Spirit  actually 
breathes  through  the  lungs  of  human  beings  who  please  Him, 
and  that  this  brings  to  the  womanhood  of  the  planet  purity, 
holiness,  freedom,  "and  the  perfect  conjugial  tie,  after  a  period 
will-^o  forth  upon  the  wings  of  morning.  To  woman^s  mission 
to  woman,  the  living  church  will  be  indebted  for  its  ultimate 
success. 

457.  How  far  woman  should  teach  her  own  sex  is  an  open 
question  in  the  world.  In  the  Heavens  ladies  interpret  the 
truths  of  the  Word  which  pertain  exclusively  to  their  own  sex. 
There  is  in  every  Heaven  a  feminine  sense  and  a  masculine 
sense,  side  by  side,  and  evolved  through  the  identical  symbols 
of  the  Holy  Volume.  Of  the  feminine  sense,  I  am  permitted 
here  to  say  that  it  relates  to  mysteries  of  woman^s  nature.  Oh 
the  love- depths  of  that  heart  in  which  Jesus  dwells  !  It  is  this 
feminine  sense  which  woman  interprets  to  woman,  and  it  is 
the  masculine  sense  which  man  interprets  to  man.  There  arc 
priests,  who,  by  consciousness,  embrace  the  two  spheres,  and  are 
sacerdotal  both  to  male  and  female.  The  priesthood  is  mascu- 
line, bvit  with  this  remarkable  peculiarity,  that  it  includes  a 
type  of  hierophants,  who  serve  as  local  organs  for  the  inner 
sense  of  the  Divine  Word,  appearing  as  woman  to  woman,  and 
as  man  to  man.  Appearing  as  woman  to  woman,  because  the 
Divine  conjugial  sphere  absorbs  them  into  itself,  inseminates 
into  them  the  feminine  forms  of  the  ideas  to  be  unfolded, 
and  presents  them,  through  an  embodiment  in  the  mascuhne 
sphere,  in  their  perfect  purity  and  symmetry  of  outline.  Suck 
men  are  called  "  life-fathers  "  in  the  Heavens,  and  are  seen 


248  AROANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap,  it, 

alternately  in  botli  tlio  womanly  and  manly  provinces.  They 
arc,  moreover,  the  heart-interpreters,  through  pubhc  teachings 
of  the  Word,  of  man  to  woman,  and  of  woman  to  man. 

458.  The  internal  senses  of  Holy  Writ  are  to  be  eventually 
opened  upon  our  planet  in  their  parallel  currents  through  the 
identical  symbols,  that  from  the  same  Word  may  flow  a  perfect 
revelation  of  God  in  man  to  man,  and  of  God  in  woman  to 
woman,  and  also  of  God  in  man  to  woman,  and  of  God  in 
woman  to  man.  It  is  the  heart-yearning  of  woman  after  the 
feminine  expression  of  truth  from  Deity  that  descends  into  the 
universal  movement  for  the  elevation  of  the  sex.  I  have  seen 
in  Heaven  the  celestial-feminine  sense,  but  never  except  in 
woman's  custody.  A  man  angel  cannot  read  it ;  not  from 
arbitrary  law,  but  because  the  Lord  turns  his  eyes  from  the 
page;  only  his  wife  can  peruse  it,  that  she  "may  open  through 
its  truths  her  own  inmost  to  God.  It  burns  with  such  an 
intense  effulgence  when  gazed  upon,  that  no  man\s  eyes  can 
bear  the  sight.  The  wives  of  the  angels  keep  it  in  httle 
caskets  in  their  conjugial  bowers,  and  read  it  when  alone,  that 
they  may  know  how  to  vivify  their  husbands  and  silently  in- 
troduce new  forms  of  nobler  knowledges  into  the  depths  of 
consciousness. 

459.  The  Word  in  Heaven,  it  should  bo  borne  in  mind,  as 
here,  is  a  book,  written  from  Heaven  to  Heaven  in  pictorial 
symbols,  which  contain  sense  within  sense.  The  symbols  are 
veiled  and  modified  from  Heaven  to  Heaven,  that  each  angel 
may  see  it  as  adapted  to  his  own  degree.  The  feminine  sense 
is  read  from  left  to  right  and  from  love  to  wisdom ;  and  the 
'masculine  sense  from  right  to  left  as  from  wisdom  to  love. 
There  is  within  these  senses,  which  are  separate,  a  double 
conjugial  sense,  which  none  can  read  but  through  the  abso- 
lute lapsing  of  the  one  life  into  all  the  forms  of  the  other 
life;  so  that  eyes  read  through  eyes,  minds  through  minds, 
and  hearts  through  hearts.  On  the  masculine  side  there  are 
branch  senses  treating  of  arts,  powers,  governments,  and 
learnings  of  various  degrees,  in  which  angels  are  trained  from 
one  degree  of  angelhood  to  another  with  perpetual  increase. 
There  are  corresponding  branches  of  sense  on  the  feminine 
side,  pertaining  to  the  vivifications  of  the  angelic  husbands. 


SEC.  458—461.]         THE   APOCALTPSJE.  249 

and  to  all  tlie  peculiar  trainings  of  the  wives.  Of  tlie  many 
tilings  in  these  branch  feminine  senses,  no  more  is  permitted 
me  to  speak.  The  Word  is,  in  fact,  the  wisdom-tree  of 
Heaven,  with  a  fragrant  branch  laden  with  fruit  in  every 
wife^s  bower,  and  with  a  corresponding  branch  of  leafy  know- 
ledge over  every  husband's  door. 

460.  The  true  priest,  with  open  respiration,  both  to  the  mind 
and  heart  of  the  masculine  and  the  feminine  spirit,  proves  the 
bisexual  quality  of  his  inspiration  by  an  equal  comprehension 
of  woman  and  of  man.  To  receive  such  knowledges  as  pertain 
to  feminine  human  nature  in  its  new  state,  those  who  are 
chosen  become  initiates  into  the  province  of  woman  in  the 
Heavens.  They  see  with  woman's  eyes,  and  meditate  with 
woman's  mind,  and  are  woman-hearted  to  love  as  woman 
loves.  Then  they  return  to  Earth,  and  woman  feels  the  priest 
not  alone  as  a  brother,  but  as  a  sister-brother;  not  alone  as  a 
father,  but  as  a  mother-father;  recognising  a  two-heartedness 
in  him,  in  which,  for  the  first  time,  her  most  deep  spirit  may 
be  divined.  God,  who  keeps,  at  every  feast  which  He  honours 
by  His  presence,  the  best  wine  to  be  given  from  Him  when 
other  supplies  have  been  exhausted,  reserves  the  rare  vintage 
both  of  the  Word  for  woman  and  the  Word  through  woman, 
to  that  great  coming  era,  wherein  it  shall  be  discovered  that 
the  masculine  intellect,  divorced  from  the  feminine  spirit,  is 
barrenness  and  impotency,  nor  is  this  time  far  oflP. 

461.  The  Word  for  woman  is  the  very  heart  in  each  degree 
of  the  Sacred  Volume;  and  the  Word  for  man  the  body  of 
that  heart.  When  open-breathing  wives  begin  to  manifest 
thgir  sweet  presence,  the  open-breathing  husband  will  discover 
the  celestial-feminine  sense  descending  in  the  spirits  of  know- 
ledges into  his  heart,  embodying  themselves  and  becoming  in 
his  consciousness  the  truths  of  the  corresponding  masculine 
degree.  I  would  have  every  youth  whose  affections  are  drawn 
towards  a  pure  virgin,  rcaHze  that,  in  the  first  principles  of  her 
regenerate  will,  she  contains  ensouled  the  womanly  body  of 
the  Word  of  God.  It  is  that  Word  within  her  which  becomes 
impregnated,  in  the  feminine  body  of  its  ideas,  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  breathes.  There  is  within  the  youth  a  corresponding 
boily,  composed  of  organic  vessels  for  ideas.     When  the  two 


250  ABCANA   OF  CIIBISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

nro  made  one  in  the  state  of  open  respiration,  the  insonlcd 
ideas  of  God's  AVord  go  forth  to  clothe  themselves  with  the 
organic  vestures  •which  await  them  in  the  husband's  form. 
Herein  is  made  known  the  mystery  of  the  new  union  in  Jesus 
Christ.  The  feminine  Word  dwells  in  all  the  woman,  the 
masculine  Word  in  all  the  man,  and  the  feminine  Word  enters 
into  the  masculine  Word,  dwelling  within  it,  and  accepting  it 
in  triune  conjunction  as  a  mind  for  its  spirit  and  as  a  body  for 
its  soul. 

462.  We  are  now  at  the  threshold  of  still  more  sacred 
mysteries.  Through  the  body  of  the  female  Word,  God  reveals 
Himself  to  the  woman  in  the  plenary  fulness  of  His  own 
Personality;  the  Joy-bringer,  the  Life-imparter ;  and  she 
kneels  and  worships  at  His  feet.  The  conjunction  between 
God  and  woman  is  through  Woman's  Word.  No  man  can 
attain  knowledge  of  that  Word,  for  the  reason,  that,  so  long  as 
masculine  modes  of  thought  endure,  or  masculine  modes  of 
affection  and  perception,  he  embodies  it  in  his  own  state,  and 
makes  of  it  a  masculine  revelation.  The  woman  can  feel  it, 
because  she  embodies  it,  but  cannot  clothe  it  because  it  is 
wholly  composed  of  the  spirits  of  ideas  ;  it  needs  therefore  the 
hierophant,  who  becomes  masculine-feminine,  supplying  from 
his  masculine  mind  the  bodies  for  the  spirits  of  the  ideas 
disrobed  of  their  ultimate  appearance,  .and  left  as  feminine 
bodies  for  woman's  eyes.  The  spirits  of  the  ideas  have  then 
womanly  forms,  and  are  Woman's  Word  clothed  upon  with 
all  heavenly  ultimates. 

463.  I  would  have  every  unregenerate  woman  remember, 
that  until,  in  the  denial  of  self,  she  yields  implicit  obedience 
to  the  Master  of  Life,  the  feminine  body  of  the  Word  does  not 
become  in  her  interiors  an  adjoined  vivifying  essence.  To  the 
influence  flowing  through  it  she  is  indebted  for  every  sacred 
emotion  that  vibrates  to  the  senses,  while  it  plays  upon  the 
soul.  Should  she  confirm  herself  in  love  of  self,  when  the 
trial  time  is  over,  when  she  is  pronounced  to  be  confirmed 
therein,  the  Word,  in  its  sweet  feminine  body,  is  so  far  ab- 
stracted that  it  can  no  more  become  the  hand  of  the  hand, 
the  bosom  of  the  bosom,  the  lips  of  the  lips,  the  eye  of  the 
eye,  the  heai't  of  the  heart.     She  is  pronounced  "  Wordless," 


SEC.  462—466.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  251 

and  so  becomes  at  last  an  associate  of  the  Wordless  demon 
and  a  dweller  in  the  Wordless  Hell. 

464.  Unsexed  women  are  among  the  most  guilty  of  the 
peryerters  of  the  Word^  because  they  pervert  in  themselves, 
not  merely  the  intellectual  body,  but  the  spirit  of  its  ideas. 
Woman  sinks,  vrhen  she  becomes  an  evil  spirit,  into  a  deeper 
Hell  than  man  sinks  into ;  not  into  the  intellectual  body,  but 
into  the  vital  essence  of  which  the  Hells  consist.  Woman, 
when  lost,  is  more  fiendlike  than  man,  her  burnings  more 
intense,  her  sorceries  more  subtle,  her  frenzies  more  terrible  • 
she  absorbs  the  very  heart  of  the  virus  of  the  demons  of  the 
lost  orb,  giving  place  in  her  affections  to  Lucifer  instead  of 
God.  The  brain  life  in  which  man  exults,  and  which  is  fed,  if 
he  is  an  evil  spirit,  through  the  fierce  body  of  the  passions  in 
the  deepest  places  of  the  abyss,  by  a  terrible  inversion  of 
properties,  begets  on  woman,  when  it  approaches  her,  an  in- 
tense desire  to  be  as  man.  The  movement  for  the  chanp-e  in 
woman^s  condition,  which  at  the  present  day  agitates  the 
more  advanced  Christian  nations,  so  far  as  it  is  evil,  springs 
from  the  effort  upon  the  part  of  the  intellectual  body  of  the 
Hells  to  demonise  the  sex  by  instilling  this  desire,  namely,  to 
be  as  man. 

465.  The  ratio  of  velocity  with  which  woman  sinks  is  seven 
to  one  as  compared  with  the  average  of  men.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  their  ascent  into  godliness  and  the  new  life,  when 
internal  respiration  is  begun,  may  be  seven-fold  more  rapid. 
The  quality  of  the  feminine  Word  is  to  hasten  the  development 
of  changes  in  the  will,  whether  directly  received  by  the  woman 
or  proximately  and  through  her,  by  the  man.  The  Word  now 
spoken  of  is  that  which  exists  in  the  interiors  of  woman  in  an 
organic  form.  As  the  Word  descends  more  fully  to  dwell 
within  the  sex,  the  whole  being  becomes  more  sweetly  and 
fully  feminine,  the  voice  melodious,  exquisite,  unspeakably 
soft,  with  a  thrilling  vibration  in  it  which  is  inimitable.  It  is 
the  Word,  the  Woman's  Word,  which  makes  the  airy  bodies  of 
the  sounds  a  vehicle  of  expression,  and  surcharges  the  atmos- 
phere with  the  inmost  life  in  which  the  Heavens  dwell. 

466.  The  married  woman  who  chooses  lovers,  pl'atonic  or 
otherwise,  absorbing  into  herself  a  masculine  sphere  as  varied 


AltCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  it. 


as  is  possible,  is  living  in  tlio  delight  of  the  essence  of  adul- 
tery. Sirens  of  this  character  go,  before  their  bodies,  in  spirit 
to  perdition.  The  first  germinations  of  this  love  are  almost 
imperceptible ;  it  begets  a  simulated  softness  ;  the  core  of  the 
affection  is  for  some  demon  lover  who  bodies  himself,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  many  men,  yielding  her  the  delight  of  his  presence 
through  fresh  masculine  spheres,  as  one  after  another  yields 
up  his  finest  vitalising  quality.  The  passion  for  spiritual 
adultery  is  very  rife  among  women  of  the  present  day ;  society 
in  both  hemispheres  being  pervaded  by  it  to  an  alarming  ex- 
tent. Women,  who  are  the  devourers  of  the  aromal  spheres 
of  the  opposite  sex,  are  vampires ;  they  derive  their  power  of 
fascination,  and  the  hold  which  they  obtain  over  male  captives, 
by  their  own  occult  connection  with  the  siren  womanhood  of 
pandemonium.  The  demon  woman  of  the  Hells  endeavours  to 
absorb,  through  the  seductive  coquette  and  covert  wanton, 
the  very  finest  spiritual  essence  from  the  men  whose  souls  she 
covets. 

467.  This,  then,  is  the  origin  of  those  infatuations  which  for 
the  time  obscure  from  view  the  Divine  Sun  that  illuminates 
the  celestial  firmament.  The  yearning  to  possess  itself  of  in- 
nocence, in  the  opposite  sex,  more  deeply  still  is  in  its  origin 
infernal,  and  partakes  of  the  desire  for  child-murder.  The 
demon  covets,  whether  male  or  female,  -a  quality  which  is 
stored  in  the  first  affections;  this  becomes,  when  absorbed 
through  the  corrupt  on  Earth  thus  made  use  of,  a  youth- 
renewing  medicament.  Through  it  the  hags  and  sorcerers, 
advancing  to  the  latter  stages  of  infernal  decay,  clothe  them- 
selves with  a  fictitious  vernal  bloom.  Of  this  character  also 
is  the  desire  of  evil  old  men  and  women  for  those  in  the 
tender  beauty  and  freshness  of  their  prime.  The  old,  worn 
body  of  the  natural  soul  clings  to  Earth,  and  seeks  to  gather 
back  its  essence  which  is  lost,  by  appropriating,  feloniously, 
the  life-fluids  that  are  surcharged  with  the  fragrance  and  the 
dew  of  the  human  morning.  To  build  up  the  old  dying  body 
of  the  nerve-spirit  by  this  process,  and  to  prolong  physical  life, 
is  ghoul-like. 

468.  It  is  through  the  Woman's  Word  that  Antichrist,  with 
his  myrmidons,  is  put  to  flight.     The  object  which  especially 


SEC.  467—469.]         TRE   APOGALYFSK  253 

our  Lord  lias  in  causing  tlie  present  celestial  unfolding  to  be 
given,  as  it  relates  to  woman,  is  to  form  a  natm-al  plane  in  the 
understanding,  by  means  of  wliicli  the  Word  within  her  can 
descend  into  her  universal  affections,  and  embody  itself  there- 
in. The  shape  in  which  the  spirits  of  the  ideas,  which  com- 
pose the  Woman^s  Word,  are  grouped  within  the  personality, 
is  uniform  in  every  case ;  a  seven-fold  woman-image,  holding 
in  the  right  hand  seven  stars,  and  with  a  sharp  two-edged 
sword  proceeding  out  of  her  mouth,  surrounded  with  a  fire- 
halo  above  the  features,  clothed  with  a  soft  resplendence  of 
gold  and  silver  and  azure,  wearing  about  the  waist  a  golden, 
silver,  azure  girdle,  and  with  feet  like  fine  brass,  set  with 
jewels.  It  is  the  peculiarity  of  this  Woman's  Word,  that  the 
knowledges  which  pertain  to  the  feminine  essence  of  atomic 
spirits,  fay-souls  and  races,  world-souls,  the  harmonic  families 
of  the  unfallen  universes  and  of  the  Ultimate,  Spiritual,  and 
Celestial  Heavens  live  within  it.  Access  is  only  to  l)e  ob- 
tained to  this  seven-fold  series  of  verities  through  the  opening 
of  woman's  heart  wherein  it  is  concealed. 

469.  To  evolve  this  Woman's  Word  into  unspoken  ulti- 
mates,  obedience  is  required  to  the  seven  following  specific 
laws.  First,  to  speak  not,  except  as  moved  upon  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  through  open  respiration.  Second,  to  write  not,  either 
in  the  freedom  of  epistolary  correspondence  or  in  the  more 
studied  forms  of  composition,  until  the  Lord  descends  in  such 
modes  of  access  as  He  chooses  through  the  internal  voice,  then 
made  audible  in  the  spiritual  ear.  Third,  reading,  whether  of 
serious  or  popular  literature,  indulged  in  without  stint,  and 
with  no  reference  to  the  Divine  law,  must  cease.  The  Lord's 
will  is,  that,  after  internal  respiration  has  begun,  and  the 
Divine  breaths  guide  the  conduct,  not  a  paragraph  should 
ever  be  perused  except  in  the  light  of  the  approving  eyes  of 
the  Infinite  Bridegroom,  who,  by  internal  modes,  makes  known 
His  will.  Costume  is  the  fourth  thing  in  place.  In  Heaven, 
the  wives  of  the  angels  are  clad  according  to  the  divine  idea, 
which  directs  through  the  Woman's  Word  the  apparel  which 
shall  express  and  represent  divine  attributes  and  seraphic  per- 
fections. Upon  a  Babel  tower  of  taste  and  skill  unrcgencrate 
woman  endeavours  to  climb  so  high  that  sho  can  grasp  from 


25i  ARCANA   OF  CliBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

tlic  Upper  Land  tlio  raiment  wliicli  invests  tlio  glory-clad  in- 
habitants. The  new  woman  comes  down  from  tlaese  cloudy 
elevations ;  her  desire  is  to  bo  clad  as  the  Divine  Lover  shall 
direct ;  and  He  has  styles  for  woman^s  wear  no  less  than  beau- 
tiful vestures  for  fields  and  flowers.  The  sphere  of  adornment 
thus  passes  from  the  control  of  the  lost  womanhood  of  the  pit ; 
regenei'ate  ftishion  is  found  kneeling  at  Messiah's  feet.  The 
open  breathing  woman  will  clothe  herself  only  as  fitness  and 
propi'iety  are  made  known  to  her  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

470.  The  fifth  law  applies  to  food.  There  are  many  reasons 
why  the  food  of 'the  race  should  chiefly  be  prepared  by  woman, 
some  of  which  follow.  She  is  the  love  dispenser,  and  all  food 
is  an  ultimate  embodiment  of  affection.  The  quality  of  food, 
when  prepared  by  the  hands  of  open  breathing  woman,  under- 
Q'ocs  a  celestial  transformation.  The  hands  diffuse  the  entire 
quality  of  the  body.  The  man's  hands  impart  stimulating 
principles  to  the  brain ;  the  woman's,  on  the  contrary, 
soothing  and  quieting  cerebral  qualities,  imparting  in  the  same 
order  visceral  life.  The  woman  who  prepares  food  in  divine 
order,  does  it  with  her  countenance  turned  internally  to  the 
love-face  of  the  Divine  Sun.  Bounteous  and  tender  mother,  by 
the  feminine  genius,  the  inmost  essences  of  health  are  copiously 
in-poured  in  that  most  blessed  use,  and  she  nourishes,  through 
her  culinary  office,  the  guests  for  whom  the  hospitable  board 
is  prepared  with  a  divine-  food,  stored  up  in  its  natural  and 
visible  manifestation.  Woman's  hand  is  so  finely  receptive, 
that,  when  ministering  in  this  heavenly  order,  the  impure  sub- 
stances which  have  flowed  into  the  j^roducts  given  her  to  pre- 
pare, undergo  an  instant  detection,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
man.  Whether  as  daughter,  wife,  sister,  or  mother,  or  as  the 
affianced,  man  in  his  heart  desires,  especially  as  the  new  order 
is  embodied  within  him,  to  receive  food  only  as  woman  gives. 

47L  A  sixth  law  applies  to  festive  pleasures,  which  in  the 
new  order  will,  without  exception,  fall  within  the  province  of 
the  open-breathing  woman's  exquisite  perception  of  order  and 
of  taste.  As  the  initiameut  to  this,  the  Lord  requires  at 
woman's  hand,  through  the  breathing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a 
withdrawal  from  those  festive  scenes  which  contain  elements  of 
impurity  and  disorder,  however  veiled  or  countenanced  by  the 


SEC.  470—472.]         TRE   APOOALYFSU.  255 

custom  of  the  times.  The  seventh  and  closing  rule  of  this 
series  is  one  which  to  many  will  seem  at  first  indelicate,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  is  found  in  the  sweetness  and  dignity  of 
purity  itself.  Over  the  whole  realm  of  knowledge  concerning 
sex-relations  and  the  development  of  natural  life  a  dense  miasm 
is  spread,  rank  with  every  foul  decay,  from  lost  hearts  in  the 
nether  world,  and  from  the  abandoned  in  this.  The  sexual 
doctrine  of  the  Lord,  clothed  with  its  ultimates  in  nature, 
should  be  instilled  from  the  mother^s  lips  into  every  child 
given  her  of  Him.  Sons  and  daughters  should  go  into  the 
school  or  the  society  of  their  mates  grounded  in  the  truth  of 
purity,  so  that  when  the  loathsome  abominations  that  make  up 
the  staple  talk,  even  of  children,  in  many  districts,  on  these 
topics,  are  propounded  to  them,  they  can  encounter  them 
with  the  wisdom  and  sobriety  of  young  apostles,  versed  in  the 
lawslDf  their  divine  and  heavenly  origin,  and  trampling  under 
foot  the  serpents  of  the  world's  corruption. 

472.  To  leave  a  child  in  ignorance  concerning  these  thino\s, 
is  an  almost  inexcusable  sin.  The  general  feeling  of  children 
who  begin  to  taste  the  fruits  of  this  tree  of  specious  and  satauic 
knowledge,  is  that  their  origin  is  of  so  gross  a  sort  that  the 
parents  are  ashamed  to  instruct  them  in  it.  With  how  much 
reason  many  thus  imagine,  let  others  judge.  Such  woeful  hells 
of  passionate  madness  boil  in  the  cauldron  of  society,  that  the 
eyes  should  be  opened,  as  soon  as  the  young  intellect  demands 
the  solution  of  the  birth-question,  to  God's  realities  and  the 
earth's  inversions.  Were  He,  who  was  once  incarnate  as  a 
child,  to  speak  in  words,  audible  in  secret  to  every  mother's 
heart,  the  message  would  be,  "  Communicate,  yourself,  all 
life-secrets  to  the  child  I  have  given  you."  By  observance  of 
the  seven  laws  which  are  in  their  generals  specified  here. 
Woman's  Word  will  by  degrees  descend  and  clothe  itself  with 
all  the  fulness  of  her  breathing  system.  All  these  irhings  are 
specified  within  the  arcana  of  the  passage,  "  and  the  last  moro 
than  the  first." 

Chap.  11.  20. — "  Notwithstanding  I  have  a  few  things 
against  thee,  because  thou  suffeuest  that  woman 
Jezebel,  which  calletu  uekself  a  pkophetesSj  to  teach 


25G  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ii. 

AND    TO    SEDUCE    MY    SERVANTS    TO    COMMIT   FORNICATION,    AND 
TO    EAT   THINGS    SACRIFICED    UNTO    IDOLS/* 

473.  "  Notwitlistantliug,  I  have  a  few  things  against  thcc," 
signifies,  that  the  woman  who  receives  the  first  gifts  of  open 
respiration  is  in  clanger  of  falling  into  complicity  with  the 
customs  of  the  age,  especially  into  seven  states  of  repugnancy 
to  the  strict  letter  of  the  seven  laws  which  precede.  "  That 
woman  Jezebel/'  signifies,  first,  the  infernal  womanhood  in 
the  Hell  of  the  lost  orb  ;  second,  the  various  societies  of  demo- 
niac womanhood  in  the  Hells  of  our  earth ;  and,  third,  all  evil 
women  who  are  becoming  infernal  in  the  three  lower  Earths  of 
Spirits  in  connection  with  our  orb,  and  preparing  themselves 
to  be  cast  into  the  Hells.  ''  Which  calleth  herself  a  pro- 
phetess,''  signifies,  the  infatuations  and  falsities  which  infest 
the  universal  mind  of  the  fallen  womanhood,  and  wliich  each 
possesses  in  the  inmost  will,  with  the  delusion  that  her  wisdom 
is  divine.  "  To  teach,''  signifies,  the  sophistries  concerning  life, 
dress,  marriage,  the  family,  society,  and  the  world,  which  have 
their  origin  in  the  corrupt  mind  of  the  infernal  womanhood. 
''  To  seduce  my  servants,"  signifies,  that  woman  in  the  new 
order,  before  her  states  are  fixed  in  open  respiration,  suffers 
herself  to  be  persuaded  to  comply  with  false  customs,  uncon- 
sciously endeavouring  to  propitiate  the  false  divinity. 

474.  "  To  commit  fornication,"  signifies,  that  the  woman  of 
the  new  age,  also  before  her  states  are  fixed  in  open  respira- 
tion, through  fear  and  love  of  society,  allows  herself  to  absorb 
into  the  nerve-spirit,  through  many  minds,  the  masculine  virus 
which  emanates  from  the  Infernals,  the  seeds  of  which  sow 
poison  in  the  understanding,  and  beget  a  mistrust  of  the  Lord 
and  an  unwillingness  to  be  led  in  all  things  by  His  divine 
voice.  It  is  called  "  fornication,"  because  the  new  woman  is 
the  "  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,"  and  her  thoughts  should  be 
impregnated  by  His  divine  breath;  but  by  giving  way  to  the' 
insidious  operations  of  those  involved  in  the  world's  inversive 
movement,  the  demons  endeavour  to  inflow  into  the  nerve- 
essence,  and  to  produce  mental  prolifications  there  of  which  the 
results  are  thoughts  against  the  truth.  "  To  eat  things  sacri- 
ficed to  idols,"  signifies,  that  the  woman  of  the  new  age, 
before  she  is  fixed  in  states  of  open  respiration,  may  be  also 


SEC.  473— 476.]         TRIE   APOCALYPSE.  257 

seduced  into  a  partial  desii-e  to  feed  tlie  evil  affections  in  her- 
self, which  have  been  subdued,  with  the  foul  food  on  which 
demons  thrive ;  namely,  honours,  titles,  selfishly  appropriated 
riches,  books  that  pander  to  a  false  mental  state,  indolence, 
an  overbearing  disposition  to  those  inferior  in  the  social  scale, 
heart-burnings  against  those  more  opulent  and  prosperous, 
scandal,  backbiting,  and  recrimination. 

Chap.  ii.  21. — '''And  I  gave  her  space  to  eepent  op  hee  for- 
nication ;   AND  SHE  repented  NOT.'" 

475.  The  general  signification  of  this  verse  is,  that  oppor- 
tunities were  offered  to  those  women  of  the  lost  orb  who 
became  demons,  to  all  of  our  planet  who  have  been  cast  into 
Hell,  and  to  all  in  the  lower  Earth  of  Spirits  who  have  pre- 
pared themselves  for  the  Hells,  to  escape  so  great  a  condemn- 
ation.~"  It  teaches,  in  the  most  absolute  sense,  that  none  are 
lost  but  those  who  will  to  be  lost,  in  giving  themselves  up  to 
the  love  of  self  and  its  consequent  evils.  It  signifies  also, 
that  none  of  those  thus  cast  down  did  repent  of  their  deeds, 
in  the  abjuration  of  self-love. 

Chap.  ii.  22. — "  Behold,  I  will   cast   her  into  a  bed,  and 

THEM    THAT    COMMIT    ADULTERY   WITH    HER   INTO  GREAT   TRIBU- 
LATION,   EXCEPT    THEY    EEPENT    OF   THEIE   DEEDS.''' 

476.  "  Behold,  I  will  cast  her  into  a  bed,''  signifies,  the 
punishments  which  await  the  women  of  the  Hells  of  our  own 
planet,  especially  those  who  plot  and  compass,  by  any  device, 
the  destruction  of  terrestrial  women  who  are  preparing  to  be- 
come of  the  new  age.  The  punishment  of  the  bed  is  the  most 
terrific  that  can  be  inflicted  in  the  abyss.  As  in  the  true 
nuptial  relation  are  delights  which  flow  from  the  direct  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord,  when  married  associates  are  in  open  respi- 
ration, and  pervaded  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  through  them 
comes  the  just  punishment  of  the  sirens  and  sorceresses  wlio 
seek  to  invert  the  new  order  in  the  bosoms  of  men.  The 
result  of  this  holy  nuptial  union  is  a  twofold  flame  of  the 
Divine  breath,  which  takes  to  itself,  from  their  living  spiritual 
bodies,  degree  after  degree  of  elemental  substance,  and  de- 
scending through  them  becomes  a  woven  fiery  mantle,  which 

E 


25S  ARCANA    OF   CURISTIANITT.  [chap.  ir. 

is  also  a  whirlwind  enveloping,  by  intert^vining  folds,  those  evil 
ones,  and  so  holding*  them  irresistibly  ^tvithin  its  embrace. 
The  demon  woman,  who  is  thus  cast  into  the  bed,  for  the  time 
endures  in  her  own  body  every  agony  which  she  has  in  her 
heart  to  inflict  upon  the  good. 

477.  "  Them  that  commit  adultery  with  her,"  signifies,  men 
who  are  verging  towards  open  respiration,  but  who  commit 
offences  which  open  them  to  sirens  from  below.  "  Into  great 
tribulation,'^  signifies,  that  they  are  cast  finally,  unless  they 
abjure  their  errors,  into  the  enveloping  ligatures  and  burial 
folds  formed  by  the  Divine  breath,  and  which  serve  as  beds  of 
punishment  for  the  sorceresses.  They  are  there  forced  to 
absorb  into  each  other  those  infernal  madnesses  which  finally 
kill  the  soul.  They  pass  through  states  of  mental  attraction, 
into  others,  in  which  they  oppose  each  other  from  the  inmost 
will,  and  are  compelled  thus  to  inflict  in  their  incorporate 
madness,  agony  for  agony,  which,  othei'wise,  they  would  seek 
to  concentre  in  the  hearts,  minds,  and  bodies  of  the  good  on 
Earth,  who  are  tending  to  the  new  age.  "  Except  they  repent 
of  their  deeds,''  signifies,  a  brief  period,  during  which  men 
who  have  fallen  into  evil,  in  the  most  incipient  states  preceding 
respiration,  may  bo  still  disconnected  from  the  demons,  both 
male  and  female,  to  whom  they  have  conjoined  themselves; 
but  this  repentance  must  be  most  deep. 

Chap.  ii.  23. — ^^And  I  will  kill  her  children   [sons]  with 

DEATH  ;  AND  ALL  THE  CHUKCHES  SHALL  KNOW  THAT  I  AM  He 
WHICH  SEAECHETH  THE  EEINS  AND  HEARTS  :  AND  I  WILL 
GIVE   UNTO   EVERT   ONE    OP   YOU  ACCORDING   TO   TOUR  WORKS." 

478.  '^And  I  will  kill,"  signifies,  the  destruction  which 
awaits,  in  the  new  age,  the  men  who  submit  themselves  to  the 
inflowings  of  the  infernal  womanhood.  "  Her  children  "  [sons] , 
those  who  thus  submit  themselves,  '^with  death,"  signifies, 
irredeemable  destruction  in  the  second  death.  '^AU  the 
churches,"  signifies,  men  of  all  types  of  the  new  humanity. 
'^  Shall  know,"  signifies,  their  perception  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence in  judgments.  "That  I  am  He  which  searcheth  the  reins 
and  hearts,"  signifies,  that  their  perception  is  that  judgment  is 
from  internals  to  externals,  and  according  to  the  absolute  state 


SEC.  477—480.]         THE   AFOGALTPSE.  259 

of  the  affections  of  man.  The  next  clause  of  the  verse.  "  And 
I  will  give  unto  every  one  of  you  according  to  your  works/' 
is  vast  in  significance^  containing  arcana  concerning  seven 
celestial-natural  states  to  be  enjoyed  on  Earth  after  the  old 
life-tree  has  fallen,  as  follows  : — 

479.  The  Woman's  Word  alluded  to  elsewhere,  exists  within 
the  female  child  as  a  divine  feminine  appearance  of  infancy,  and 
when  the  Lord  causes  the  infant  to  be  born  with  open  respira- 
tions, it  is  discovered  that  every  breath  of  the  beauteous  babe 
is  the  result  of  the  direct  effusion  of  our  Lord's  personal  ten- 
derness for  i#i  She  is  called  '^  the  Word-child,"  because  it  is 
discovered  that  the  Divine  Father  has  caused  the  universal 
series  of  the  spirits  of  the  truths  which  are  the  Word,  organ 
by  organ  and  faculty  by  faculty,  to  be  inseminated  into  her 
whole  being.  As  language  is  unfolded  in  the  first  sweet  tones, 
she  begins  to  converse  concerning  internal  and  heavenly  inno- 
cence, borrowing  from  the  natural  world  images  by  means  of 
which  to  express  and  body  forth  germs  of  ideas  present  to  the 
internal  consciousness.  To  the  young  child  who  sees  through 
Heaven's  inner  eyes,  Heaven  is  opened  continually,  and  her 
respirations  are  at  first  with  the  innermost  of  the  angels  in 
her  own  heavenly  society,  because  in  these  the  state  of  inno- 
cence is  most  supreme.  In  its  first  form  the  Word,  which  is 
thus  contained  within  her  is  called  the  "  Gospel  of  Innocence." 

480.  Advancing  through  orderly  stages,  should  no  distur- 
bances intervene,  the  daughter  of  the  Word  becomes  conscious 
that  she  is  ministered  unto  through  the  living  Word,  which  is 
composed  of  spirits  of  ideas  within  her  own  body,  and  that 
our  Lord  by  it  and  through  it  is  her  constant  benefactor.  The 
process  of  conversion,  as  it  is  recognised  throughout  Christen- 
dom, by  devout  hearts,  never  takes  place  with  her,  because 
there  is  nothing  to  unlearn  in  the  mind  or  to  undo  in  the  will,  as 
to  internals,  and  obedience  to  the  Divine  Yoice  is  to  her  native 
and  natural ;  as  in  the  case  of  children  inheriting  into  the  old 
movement  and  its  closed  respirations,  the  desire  to  obey  the 
self  is  native  and  natural.  Herein  commences  a  new  era  m 
religious  instruction ;  for  to  this  young  daughter  of  the  Word, 
all  that  pertains  to  childhood,  as  at  present  constituted,  is  un- 
natural.    Her  child's  faith  clothes  itself  in  words  like  these, 

li  2 


260  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  it. 

which  catechetically  may  be  thus  disposed  in  questions  and 
replies.  • 

Q.  Tell  me,  thou  blessed  child,  what  is  thy  name  ? — A.  I  am 
the  daughter  of  the  Word,  and  named  after  His  name,  which  is 
Truth,  Love,  Charity. 

Q.  How  knowest  thou  that  thou  art  thus  called? — A.  My 
Father  calls  me  thus,  speaking  within  me. 

Q.  In  what  manner  doth  He  thus  designate  thee  ? — A.  It  is 
as  the  song  of  a  bird  in  my  heart,  as  a  voice  of  a  man  in  the 
mind,  but  in  the  body  it  is  peace  and  joy. 

Q.  Who  is  He  that  doth  talk  within  thee  ? — A.  The  loving 
Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  in  all,  and  through  all ;  the 
blessed  God  who  was  made  manifest  on  Earth  as  man. 

Q.  What  doth  He  teach  thee,  little  child  ? — A.  To  breathe 
as  He  breathes  in  me,  and  with  this  to  run  with  my  feet  upon 
His  errands. 

Q.  Dost  thou  see  within  thyself,  as  out  of  thyself? — A.  That 
I  do  most  clearly ;  and  first,  I  see  Him  who  is  my  life ;  and 
second,  I  see  multitudes  of  little  children  like  myself,  but  more 
glorious  and  beautiful  j  and  third,  I  see  the  wonderful  land  in 
which  they  dwell  and  which  is  called  Heaven. 

481.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  the  Word  unfolds  in  simple 
truths,  by  open  perceptions  in  the  joy-breathings  of  the  new 
child,  who  sees  the  spirits  of  the  ideas  arrayed  in  her  own  sub- 
jective being,  in  which  they  are  grouped  together  as  paradi- 
siacal infants  in  the  midst  of  paradises.  This  she  calls  Heaven, 
but  the  One  who  moves  in  the  midst  of  it,  the  Lord.  The 
spirits  of  the  truths  open,  moreover,  as  subjective  mirrors, 
holding  in  themselves  the  marvels  of  the  celestial  landscapes 
which  they  resemble,  and  the  angels  who  dwell  therein.  The 
whole  Word  is  thus  subjectively  disclosed,  as  far  as  is  neces- 
sary to  her  degree. 

482.  By  means  of  Woman^s  Word  the  female  children  of  the 
new  age  will  be  governed  and  brought  into  association  in  the 
most  exquisite  manner  with  their  kind ;  guidance  being  from 
the  Lord  through  open  respiration,  and  the  Divine  mandate  de- 
scending with  the  breath  from  the  spiritual  to  the  natural  de- 
gree of  consciousness.  Because  there  are  three  degrees  in  the 
Word,  the  child  will  behold  through  these,  as  times  serve,  the 


SEC.  481—484.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  261 

trine  of  tlie  angelic  motliers  from  tlie  Heavens.  The  celestial 
mother  replete  with  the  sweet  charm  of  the  Heaven  where  the 
spirits  of  the  affections  enjoy  eternal  beatitudes ;  the  spiritual 
mother  from  the  Heavens  where  the  spirits  of  the  ideas  reside 
in  stately  palaces  of  understanding ;  and  the  ultimate-heavenly 
mother  from  that  embodied  Heaven  of  sweetness,  fulness,  and 
delight,  where  the  forms  of  the  pure  virtues  exist.  Thus  con- 
scious of  the  stately  lines  of  the  internal  parentage,  the  natural 
mother  will  serve  as  the  earthly  expression  of  the  angel  mother- 
hood ;  the  natural  Earth,  in  its  new  harmony,  the  basis  and 
extension  of  these  Heavens,  and  her  own  natural  body  the 
guarded  shrine  of  a  spiintual  body  containing  within  itself  the 
living  organisms  of  the  spirits  of  ideas.  A  divine  human  evan- 
gel, most  fully  to  be  revered,  most  deeply  to  be  loved,  as  in- 
deed the  one  in  whose  being  the  Infinite  Trinity  of  power 
and  wisdom  and  goodness  personally  exists,  the  sweet  child  of 
the  new  age  receives  the  Lord,  and  learns  the  language  in 
which  He  speaks,  and  so  comprehends  the  Divine  things  of 
life,  with  an  ever-growing  expansion  of  the  heart. 

483.  The  child  of  the  degree  we  are  now  considering,  namely, 
the  one  respiring  from  the  Celestial  Heaven  in  conjunction  with 
world-souls  of  orbs  in  which  the  celestial  genius  is  supreme, 
will  be,  as  to  subjective  consciousness,  during  states  of  natural 
repose,  adjoined  to  harmonic  infants  of  such  unfallen  worlds. 
That  orb  with  which  she  most  accords  by  virtue  of  the  pre-exist- 
ent  harmony  of  which  her  life  is  the  expression,  will  be  her 
spii'itual  star,  shining  through  the  heart  with  soft  diffusive 
splendours  (see  heart-sight  elsewhere);  in  conjunction  with  its 
delicious  air  she  will  respii-e,  and  represent  in  our  earth  the 
charmed  beauty  of  feminine  children  who  make  its  paradises 
their  terrestrial  home.  The  children  of  Venus,  Mars,  Saturn, 
and  other  planets,  where  moral  evil  has  no  place,  will  be  con- 
spicuously represented  on  our  earth  in  this  manner.  As  the 
area  of  the  new  life  widens,  it  will  be  finally  perceived,  that 
every  infant  daughter  of  the  Word  born  upon  our  planet  is  the 
representative  of  the  feminine  spirit  of  some  familiar  star. 

484.  The  child  of  the  new  age  will  live  in  the  perception  of 
atomic  spirits,  fay  souls,  inhabitants  of  the  unfallen  worlds,  the 
world-souls,  and  the  ang-els  of  three  Heavens.     To  her  clear 


2G2  ARCANA    OF   CnBISTIANITT.         [chap.  ii. 

vision  nature  will  bo  discovered  as  one  universal  animate  exist- 
ence, subsisting  by  dependence  upon  the  Lord.  In  her  second 
state  the  "Woman's  Word  will  be  lovingly  present  in  the  whole 
form,  and  she  will  exist  and  respire  by  means  of  the  Divine  in- 
fluence through  it.  In  its  second  degree  of  manifestation  in 
the  child,  the  woman's  Word  is  called  "  The  gospel  of  child- 
hood, or  of  Eden ;"  the  last  word  signifying  the  childhood  of 
the  race.  The  Word  "\viU  serve  as  an  internal  ministrant  most 
exquisitely  pervading  every  organ,  while  from  the  archetypal 
spirits  of  truth  witliin  it,  in  which  her  own  womanhood  is  pre- 
figured, the  child  will  unfold  into  that  special  type  of  love  and 
beauty  which  she  is  to  illustrate  on  Earth. 

485.  As  maidenhood  advances  and  the  soul-flower  parts  its 
calyx  to  unfold  its  deep  corolla,  a  third  state  will  intervene. 
The  Word  which  has  heretofore  been  within  her  person  will 
open,  dispensing  its  qualities  in  a  fivefold  luminous  radiation ; 
the  first  from  the  life  heaven,  the  second  from  the  love  heaven, 
the  third  from  the  truth  heaven,  the  fourth  from  the  essence 
heaven,  the  fifth  from  the  harmony  heaven,  or  outer  expanse 
of  the  celestial  society  with  which  she  is  especially  at  one. 
Clothed  thus  in  spotless  woven  innocence  from  the  Lord,  she 
hears,  in  her  deep  subjective  life.  His  voice  more  fully  and 
nearly  within,  while,  in  all  the  ardent  blushing  afiections  of 
vii"ginal  being,  she  consecrates  herself  in  unreserved  and  abso- 
lute obedience  to  His  eternal  will.  The  Woman's  Word  within 
her  is  called,  in  this  third  state,  "  The  gospel  of  virginity," 
or  "  The  vernal  gospel,''  because  her  state  is  one  of  Spring. 

486.  Marriages  in  the  new  age,  where  there  are  female 
childi'cn  perfected  to  the  prime  of  womanhood,  in  whom  Wo- 
man's Word  is  thus  unfolded,  will  cease,  so  far  as  in  any  man- 
ner typical  of  the  subversive  state.  But  the  two  who  are  one, 
through  the  operation  of  the  Divine  Spii'it,  will  thus  conduct 
the  sweet  courtshij)  which  terminates  in  the  nuptials  of  ever- 
lasting life.  The  two  who  are  to  be  united  will  breathe  in  a 
consent  of  breaths,  the  divine  respiration  being  coalescent 
within  them.  The  youth  will,  from  the  moment  when  the  fair 
virgin  is  presented  to  his  gaze,  breathe  only  in  concert  with 
her  breath.  There  will  not  be  two  respirations  but  one. 
Through  consent  of  respiration  they  will  be  ever  present  with 


SEC.  485—487.]        THE   APOGALYPSE.  263 

each  otlier  in  spmt^  however  physically  remote  in  space. 
When  the  period  for  the  celebration  of  nuptials  arrives,  instead 
of  solemnising  an  external  union  by  priestly  consent  and  ap- 
probation, under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with 
believers  present  for  a  testimony,  they  will  attest  and  avow 
themselves  two  in  one.  From  this  time  they  will  be  recog- 
nised as  conjugial  partners  ;  making  the  act  a  fact  of  state  and 
society  by  its  registration,  according  to  such  custom  and 
statute  as  may  exist.  From  this  time  the  Woman^s  Word, 
which  exists  in  the  spirits  of  ideas  within  her  in  the  virgin  state, 
will  impregnate  the  Man's  Word  which  exists  within  him,  in  a 
universal  series  of  forms  or  bodies  for  the  spirits  of  the  ideas. 
Behold  then  the  holiness  of  nuptials  !  The  husband  and  the 
wife  are  led  together,  that  the  two  forms  in  which  the  Word 
exists,  masculine  and  feminine,  may  interknit  their  essence. 
After  ^marriage  is  established  the  Woman's  Word  is  called 
"  Fruitfulness." 

487.  We  approach  now  the  mysteries  of  life-generation.  As 
the  male  and  female  Word  co-act,  insphered  separately  within  the 
husband  and  the  wife,  the  descent  of  the  spiiits  of  the  ideas 
into  the  bodies  of  the  ideas  is  marked  by  rites  of  nuptial  union, 
till,  in  due  time,  the  soul,  the  mind,  and  the  body  of  the  bride- 
groom, as  a  matrix  of  truth,  are  impregnated  through  the  bride. 
From  this  time  there  are  bii'ths  in  the  man  according  to  his 
social  use.  Truths  of  art,  of  science,  of  government,  of  wor- 
ship, display  themselves  within  the  outward  provinces  of  the 
understanding.  He  is  inspired  to  execute  the  works  given 
him  to  do  ;  the  truths  being  begotten  in  him  through  Word- 
conjunction,  and  in  Kke  manner  evolved  and  made  known. 
The  wife  also  becomes  pregnant  from  time  to  time  with  the 
children  whom  the  Lord  gives  to  her  as  a  holy  seed;  they 
are  conceived  without  sin  and  shapen  without  iniquity,  being 
begotten  in  and  through  the  conspiration  of  the  Word  mascu- 
line and  the  Word  feminine,  while  the  divine  breaths  go  forth 
holding  within  themselves  the  soul-germ,  conducting  it  to  its 
place  within  the  ovum,  depositing  the  latter  in  the  womb,  and 
then  elaborating  fold  by  fold  the  tissues  of  its  natural  frame. 
Least  some  should  mistake  the  force  of  the  statement  here  con- 
veyed, forming  from  it  an  argument  against  the  Infinite  lucar- 


2GJ.  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  ii. 

nation  of  our  Lord,  the  reader  is  referred  to  A.  of  C,  2,  I. 
Chap.  I,  for  an  epitome  of  the  doetrine  of  the  descent  of  the 
Divine  Man  into  the  human  form. 

488.  It  is  during  this  period  that  the  man  becomes  born 
into  successive  states  of  internal  Hfe,  love,  truth,  essence,  and 
harmony,  to  be  ultimated  through  his  body  in  the  noble 
employments  of  the  outward  world.  As  is  the  woman^s 
gospel,  so  is,  in  its  place,  the  man^s  gospel  into  which  it  flows; 
and  as  are  the  two  in  their  conjunction,  so  are  the  births 
in  the  natual  system  of  the  man.  The  decline  of  life  in  the 
terrestrial  world  does  not  take  place,  though  existence  is 
lengthened  out  to  one,  two,  or  three  generations,  while  there 
remains,  in  the  ultimate  degree  of  the  mind,  any  unborn  pro- 
creation from  God's  Word,  unless  physical  existence  ter- 
minates through  martyrdoms  or  some  transgression.  When 
the  two  in  one  have  received  the  Word  in  its  lyrical  expres- 
sion, the  melodies  of  many  worlds  are  begotten  through  it. 
Those  to  whom  the  Word  is  given  in  its  tragic  or  dramatic 
manifestation,  evolve  from  suns  and  systems  the  vast  ideas  of 
the  corresponding  muse;  and  work  follows  work  in  the  mas- 
culine, as  babe  succeeds  babe  in  the  feminine  life,  till  all  is 
wrought  out  that  the  Lord  has  for  His  children  to  accomplish 
in  the  terrestrial  sphere  and  their  life-circle  is  full. 

489.  The  Word  ceases  to  beget,  through  the  interaction  of 
the  conjugial  pair,  long  before  manifestations  of  mental  fertility 
and  fecundity  are  at  an  end.  The  period  for  the  evolution  of  a 
work  of  truth  or  art.  Word  begotten,  may  vary  from  the  hour 
to  threescore  years  and  ten ;  the  simplest  works  being  most 
rapidly  organized,  the  most  composite  slowest  in  the  process. 
The  works  of  old  men  will  be  gigantic  when  a  hundred  years 
have  made  their  majestic  imprint  on  the  venerable  face. 

490.  The  close  of  mental  prolifications  in  the  man  is  marked 
by  a  period  of  langour,  during  which  the  mind,  the  imagina- 
tion, the  fancy,  in  fine  the  whole  cycle  of  the  truth- bearing 
powers,  fall  into  a  reposeful  state.  It  is  a  crisis  corresponding 
to  that  which  terminates  the  period  of  maternity  with  the 
woman.  New  inseminations  from  the  Word,  after  this  period, 
do  not  occur;  exceptions  however,  for  especial  divine  ends, 
modify  this  rule.     It  is  accompanied  with  a  profound  sensation 


SEC.  488—491.]         TRE   APOCALYPSU.  2G5 

as  of  a  fiuislied  and  accepted  cycle  of  employ.  Cool  wafting 
winds^  wliicli  are  auras  of  the  Heavens^  play  about  tlie  greater 
brain.  The  mental  ova  in  the  ovaries  of  the  brain  which  have 
not  already  received  impregnation^  become  deprived  of  the 
germinative  gift^  and  the  mental  ovary  itself,  losing  its  func- 
tion, is  gathered  together.  The  abdomen  of  the  body  experi- 
ences a  sympathetic  action,  and  accommodating  itself  to  the 
new  condition,  developes  fibre  and  muscle.  The  sole  use  of  the 
human  tree  is  henceforth  perfectly  to  mature  the  fruit-germs 
already  set.  Often  the  germs  of  intellectual  creations  are  con- 
cealed for  periods  varying  from  three  to  thii'ty  years,  growing 
unsuspected  in  the  mental  system  all  this  time.  The  con- 
sciousness of  the  close  of  the  era,  during  which  new  mental 
impregnations  may  occur,  should  not  of  necessity  denote  that 
the  terrestrial  career  is  nearly  ended  •  it  may  be  in  its  nobler 
cycle  hardly  begun. 

491.  The  art-breathing  of  Deity,  beauteously  manifest  in 
the  exquisite  foliage  and  flowerage  of  the  varied  year,  is  more 
conspicuously  displayed  in  the  events  that  crown  the  seasons  of 
this  chaste  conjugial  life.  One  breathing  spirit  animates,  one 
goodness  presides,  one  wisdom  forms  and  fashions  all ;  and  the 
end,  hke  its  Author,  is  very  good.  After  the  period  of  mental 
prolification  has  ceased  with  the  husband,  and  its  terrestrial 
symbol  with  the  wife,  the  richest  enjoyments  of  existence  are 
begun.  Henceforth  all  that  remains  is  to  ripen  in  their  wealthy 
places,  and  to  diSuse  a  varied  plenty  through  the  cycles  of 
their  year.  The  Woman^s  Word  now  ceases  to  dispense  such 
impregnating  qualities  throughout  the  bodies  of  the  ideas 
which  constitute  the  Word  in  man;  but  the  Divine  Spirit 
flows  through  it  gloriously  to  mature  the  embryos  which  have 
already  received  their  quickening.  Yet  the  life,  which  before 
has  been  the  promise  and  the  prophecy,  is  now  ripe  with  har- 
vest. This  period  is  the  true  work-day  of  a  great  career.  The 
men  on  Jupiter  seldom  emerge  from  their  private  walks  to 
occupy  illustrious  places,  whether  as  poets,  hierophants,  or 
governors,  until  the  era  of  prolification  terminates,  and  with 
them  there  is  a  sunset  which  precedes  the  seven-fold  day.  The 
Gospel  which  now  emanates  from  the  Woman's  Word  within 
her  breast,  is  called  "  Ripeness,''  and  the  spirits  of  the  truths. 


200  ARCANA    OF   CnElSTIANITT.  [chap.  ir. 

when  thoy  arc  interpreted  into  language,  arc  found  to  relate 
to  tlio  diWno  harmonics,  which  conspicuously  unfold  in  the  new 
duties  of  the  pair. 

492.  The  procession  of  the  days  moves  on.  A  sixth  period 
dawns  for  a  nobler  unfolding  of  the  Wonian^s  Word.  It  is  an 
era  marked  by  colossal  fulness  in  the  affections.  The  germs 
of  a  new  quickening  luvvo  descended  into  the  Word,  and  a 
nobler  pregnancy  begins,  Avliere  tho  surcharged  affections 
receive  from  the  Divine  Spirit  the  germs,  not  of  knowledge, 
but  of  solid  things.  Not  alone  is  woman,  through  the  Word,  tho 
mother  of  nations,  but  of  natures.  She  feels  within  her  breast 
the  throes  and  pulsings  of  a  celestial  mineral  life.  The  quick 
essences  which  weave  the  structures  of  gold  and  silver,  of 
every  valued  metal  and  every  precious  gem,  are  operant  within 
the  consciousness,  and  she  exclaims  that  she  is  ahve  with  tho 
spirits  of  a  world's  great  basis !  The  thoughts  that  rise  in 
the  morning  hke  odours,  or  with  brilliant  winged  forms,  and 
that  flit  throughout  the  day  from  bower  to  bower  in  the 
chambers  of  the  understanding,  repose  at  eventide,  to  be 
transformed,  thi-ough  sleep,  to  first  principles  of  metallic  and 
mineralised  existence.  Now  also  unearthly  melody  is  heard 
at  night ;  the  underworkers  below  the  deep  mineral  bases  of 
the  orb,  the  flame  dwellers  and  the  stone  dwellers,  the  fiiys  of 
carbon  and  of  iron,  of  the  ruby  and  the  diamond,  epitomise 
their  mystic  dance ;  and  the  song,  a  fluent,  gliding  stream  of 
love,  flows  in  red  fire  to  frame,  -within  such  bases  of  the  natural 
body  as  are  in  their  degree,  a  new  celestial  mineral  formation. 
It  is  the  dust  of  thought  that  scintillates  in  living  jewels. 
Star  is  heard  chanting  to  star ;  the  wonder-process  by  which 
orbs  are  evolved  in  space  amidst  the  measured  moving  strokes 
of  thi'obbing  world-souls,  is  repeated  in  the  brain.  At  length, 
from  within  the  waters  of  the  mind,  rolls  up  to  sight  an  inner 
orb,  resonant  with  an  embodied  harmony.  This  proceeds 
thi'ough  seven  beauteous  eras  to  perfection,  and  moves  forth 
from  within  the  mind,  and  is  caught  up  into  the  aromal  spaces 
of  the  world,  where  it  unrolls  and  becomes  a  floating  islet  of 
sun  crystals  and  of  star  crystals,  knit  together  by  the  chemic 
law,  a  basis  for  subsequent  aromal  vegetation. 

493.  Upon   the   orb  Jupiter   may   be    discovered,  first,  its 


SEC.  492—494.]         THE   APOCALTrSJE.  2G7 

terrestrial  soil,  mantled  with  glorious  vegetation  in  hues  in 
which  the  emerald  predominates  j  but  far  above,  suspended  in 
the  pure  ether,  floating  gardens  of  substance  more  exquisite, 
with  their  own  peculiar  minerals  and  earths  and  waters,  their 
own  paradisiacal  fruits  and  flowers,  of  which  the  predominant 
colour  is  a  softly  shaded  gold.  The  substance  of  which  they 
are  composed  is  evolved  through  Woman^s  Word ;  first  from 
one  primate  woman  of  the  orb,  and  then  through  sisterhoods 
of  generations.  So  will  it  be  after  the  new  woman  begins  to 
fulfil  in  our  earth  a  perfect  cycle.  Illustrations  of  the  operant 
power  of  the  Divine  in  ultimates  might  be  multiplied  from  the 
illustrations  of  miracle  in  Holy  Writ.  The  husljand  conjoined 
to  the  wife  is,  during  this  period,  developing,  in  forms  of  lan- 
guage, or  works  of  art,  or  material  and  social  employments 
and  industries,  the  creations  from  the  Word,  previously  gene- 
rated^within  his  mind. 

494.  Still,  as  the  Divine  Spirit,  through  Woman's  Word,  con- 
tinues His  wonderful  operations  in  her  breast,  she  becomes 
pregnant  again,  through  the  spirits  of  the  ideas  of  which  it  is 
wrought,  with  a  soft,  sweet,  floral  babe,  whose  body  is  com- 
posed of  unborn  essences  of  every  holy  plant  and  sacred  flower. 
The  fays  of  garden  and  field  and  grove  sing  continuously  within 
her.  She  sympathises  with  the  universal  flora.  She  is  impreg- 
nate with  the  essence  of  an  orb  of  flowers.  The  spirits  of  the  pine 
and  fir,  the  palm  and  bread-fruit,  the  myrtle  and  the  oleander, 
and  every  graceful  thing  that  loves  the  ground,  or  hides  within 
a  germ  of  springing  bloom,  in  her  low,  delicious  meltings  of  ac- 
cordant breaths,  together  seem  throbbing  into  life.  Now,  too, 
the  play  and  action  of  the  universal  world-souls  softly  inter- 
penetrate the  frame,  and  the  orb  of  crystals  is  succeeded  by 
the  orb  of  floral  life,  ascending  through  the  composite  structure 
of  the  twofold  brain,  and  distributing  aromal  germs,  to  fashion, 
as  they  rise  above  the  surface  of  their  airy  paradise,  the  sub- 
stanced  emblems  of  her  own  delightful  state.  I  saw  upon  the 
planet  Jupiter  a  celestial-natural  woman  of  that  type  which  we 
consider  here  as  of  the  Thyatiran  Church,  and  was  permitted 
to  behold  the  termination  of  the  second  process  which  I  here 
narrate.  The  floral  creation  gathered  itself  up,  having  been 
previously   distributed   through   her  whole    frame,    and   ruse 


2GS  ARCANA   OF  CHBISTIANITY.         [chap.  ii. 

through  the   open  spiracles  of  which  the  brain  is  fashioned, 
until,  unfolded  above  her,  it  floated  eastward  as  toward  the  sun. 

495.  The  woman  is  rich  and  great  with  a  substantial  opu- 
lence of  varied  sensation,  replete  with  charm,  exhaling  constant 
satisfactions.  The  husband  gazes  on  her  with  a  fondness, 
which  is  renewed,  enhanced,  and  more  blissfully  perfected  day 
by  day.  The  eyes  more  tender  and  deej?,  the  breath  more 
spicy,  the  warblings  of  the  voice  more  sacred  and  profound; 
the  rose-flush  upon  the  cheek,  dispensing,  through  its  rich  car- 
nations, a  crimson  goldonness  as  of  celestial  skies  ;  the  lips  in- 
spired with  an  ecstasy  akin  to  that  of  angels ;  the  body  glowing 
and  ardent,  the  health  more  consummate,  above  all  the  breath- 
ings of  a  seven-fold  continued  Divine  operation,  betoken  the 
Genius,  through  the  spirits  of  the  ideas  of  which  the  Woman^s 
Word  is  constituted,  and  the  third  internal  kingdom  wrought  of 
the  essences  of  the  forms  of  sensitive  life.  The  songs  of  birds 
are  heard  within  the  brain ;  51  winged  hymning  sphere  ascends 
therefrom;  at  length  it  becomes  a  germ  of  the  bu'd  world, 
and  contains  within  itself  the  germ  of  a  typal,  aromal-animal 
creation.  So  the  work  is  finished,  and  a  triune  aromal  world 
or  nature  born  through  woman  in  her  sixth  great  stage. 

496.  The  Word  within  her  dm^ing  this  period  is  called  "In- 
crease," and  the  spirits  of  the  ideas,  when  translated  into  lan- 
guage, are  found  to  contain  truths  of  a  corresponding  quality. 
This  orderly  increase  of  growths  through  the  wife  is  necessary 
to  prepare  her  for  the  next  great  state  which  now  begins  to 
dawn.  Her  use  as  the  mother  of  men  and  the  mother  of 
nature  being  perfected,  she  receives  into  herself  from  the  Lord 
and  through  the  Woman's  Word,  ovarian  receptacles,  deposited 
within  unimpregnated  ova  preserved  for  that  purpose  from 
the  period  of  birth  within  the  ovarium.  At  the  same  time 
soul-germs  of  a  new  type  of  exquisite  human  children  descend 
from  the  Lord  through  the  Heavens,  and  are  clothed  upon  with 
appropriate  nerve-bodies  in  the  holy  respiring  system  of  her 
nuptial  counterpart.  In  due  time  they  conspire,  when,  through 
the  generative  law,  the  wife  becomes  pregnant  with  an  aromal 
child,  beautiful  beyond  imagination,  the  charm,  the  wonder, 
the  delight  of  all  who  gaze  upon  it.  Aromal  love-milk  now 
distends  the  breasts  on  which  the  infant  feeds,  and  when  infancy 


SEfc.  495—498.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  269 

is  finislied,  it  is  cauglit  up  and  becomes  tlie  Adam  of  the  airy 
paradise,  wlio  in  due  time  finds  his  Eve.  These  I  have  seen, 
■when  intromitted  through  the  opening  of  perception  into  the 
wonders  of  the  planet  Jupiter.  They  are  in  size  an  harmonic 
octave  less  than  the  terrestrial  race  in  whose  chaste  perfection 
they  originate,,  and  the  bodies  of  some  are  like  the  golden 
starred,  azure  heaven,  and  others  of  a  golden  redness  like  the 
dawn.  It  is  the  solace  of  this  pregnancy  that  it  announces 
glories  unspeakable  beyond  the  world.  The  well-beloved  gift 
is  our  Lord's  approval  of  the  whole  life,  the  seal  of  attestation 
preceding  the  final  welcome  to  eternal  joys.  A  final  name,  by 
which  the  gospel  unfolding  from  Woman's  Word  is  called,  is 
"  Rest.''  Of  the  felicities  which  the  nuptial  pair  enjoy,  there 
is  no  earthly  language  of  purity  so  exquisite  as  to  shape  the 
statements  that  might  otherwise  be  made.  They  are  as  the  in- 
cense of  incense,  the  beauty  of  beauty,  and  the  peace  of  peace. 

497.  '^And  I  will  give  to  every  one  of  you  according  to 
his  works,"  signifies,  furthermore,  seven  beauteous  changes, 
through  which  the  celestial-natural  woman  of  this  type  under- 
goes translation,  to  be  with  the  Lord  in  the  Heavens.  In 
the  first,  the  Woman's  Word  envelopes  her  through  its  fivefold 
sphere  spoken  of  before,  and  flashes  such  scintillant  splendour 
that  momently  there  occurs  a  transfiguration.  This  precedes 
the  change.  There  are  heard  voices  in  the  natural  atmosphere 
as  of  thunder,  mild  and  melodious,  and  earth-echoes  as  of 
vibrations  within  the  bosom  of  the  soil;  deep  calleth  unto 
deep.  It  is  committed  to  the  fays  of  stone  and  fire,  who 
heretofore  from  time  to  time  have  wrought  within  the  metallic 
and  earthy  bases  of  the  body,  to  begin  chanting  within  its 
human  extenses  the  fire-song  which  precedes  the  consumma- 
tion of  terrestrial  things.  The  low,  sweet  melody  seems  to 
weave  itself  in  flying  circles,  in  the  midst  of  all  that  golden 
splendour  wherein  the  woman  stands;  and  the  flame  commences 
to  consume  the  outmost  particles,  which  by  a  slow  music  ex- 
hale away  in  the  midst  of  the  song  of  the  Word  which  the 
woman  sings. 

498.  Now  the  fays,  who  have  inhabited  the  human  extenses, 
and  wrought  into  the  varied  degrees  of  the  bodily  structure, 
having  previously  ceased  their  generations,  behold  their  seven 


270  ARCANA    OF    CHBISTIANITY.  [chap.  ii. 

respective  fay  earths  Lrcakiug  up  and  undulating  beneatli  the 
feet.  The  mild,  miracuhjus  liamo  at  the  same  moment  inwraps 
every  object  within  itself.  The  fay  Heaven  is  opened,  and  the 
fay  races  who  have  ascended  beckon  to  their  glowing  progeny. 
From  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  soles  of  the  feet,  they  rise. 
At  this  moment  the  glorified  woman  feels  the  spirits  of  the 
primates  and  the  ultimates  infolding  within  themselves  the 
zones  by  which  they  have  been  manifested  in  time  and  space. 
The  world-soul  opens ;  instantly  the  sidereal  harmony  which 
has  heretofore  interknit  the  system  in  its  motions  with  the 
music  of  the  space,  is  felt  as  if  by  a  self-conscious  volition 
withdrawing  from  the  frame.  The  soul  of  the  woman  now 
darts  with  instantaneous  motion  where,  reverent  and  worship- 
ping, the  husband  beholds  the  sublimation  of  the  essence  of 
his  wife,  and  through  her  enraptured  hand  he  receives  the  fire- 
crown  and  glory-mantle  of  deathless  translation  to  Heaven. 
The  wife  comes  first  to  the  husband,  by  the  love-breathing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  to  rest  as  the  bride  within  his  bosom,  serving 
as  the  beauteous  agent  for  the  inspiration  of  the  forms  of  the 
ideas  with  which  the  Word  is  extant  within  his  own  nature. 
Anon  the  Woman's  Word  puts  forth  its  seven-fold  flame  which 
the  Man's  Word  within  him  receives,  and  as  the  two  Words 
interflow,  the  fays  of  stone  and  fire  perform  their  work,  and 
are  themselves  involved  into  the  ultimate  Word-sphere,  in 
which  they  rise  followed  by  the  fay  earths  within  the  man, 
while  the  atomic  spirits,  with  one  consent  involve  themselves. 
All  is  prepared ;  the  earth  holds  them  no  more.  The  dissolving 
extended  spheres  of  the  nerve  essence  emit  their  unspiritual 
elements,  which  melt  to  rose  and  purple,  and  dissolve  away 
upon  the  stainless  ether.     This  is  the  first  stage. 

499.  Behold  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride  !  The  Heavens 
open  to  receive  them.  The  human  extenses  of  the  will,  the 
understanding  and  the  proceeding  spiritual  form,  orbed  in  un- 
speakable majesty,  become  the  composite  habitations  of  the 
fay  race,  who  have  put  on  immortahty  during  the  periods  of 
their  terrestrial  duration,  and  at  its  close.  The  two  in  one, 
lords  of  a  few  things  of  a  fay  earth  below,  are  rulers  over  the 
many  things  of  a  fay  heaven  above.  Surrounded  by  this  aerial, 
hymning  multitude,  they  rise  toward  their  rest.     This  is  their 


SEC.  499— 50X.]  TRIE   APOCALYPSE.  271 

second  stage.  Over  tlie  wide-oxtendecl  landscape  sliines  in 
fivefold  lustre  the  sun  of  the  Divine  Presence.  Hitherward 
proceeds  the  bridegroom,  still  led  up  by  the  bride,  enclasped 
within  the  twofold  Word ;  and  the  winged  spirits  of  the  ideas 
are  involved  within  the  bodies  of  the  ideas  :  "  a  great  cloud, 
and  a  fire  infolding  itself,  and  a  brightness  was  about  it,  and 
out  of  the  midst  thereof  as  the  colour  of  amber,  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  fire.^^  Such  was  a  translation  which  I  witnessed 
in  the  spirit  upon  the  planet  Jupiter,  where  reside  a  majestic 
people  who  correspond  to  the  Thyatiran  Church. 

600.  They  are  borne  upward  in  the  "Word;  and  now  in  the 
third  stage  its  appearance  becomes  more  majestic  and  terrible. 
"  Out  of  the  midst  thereof  came  the  likeness  of  four  living  crea- 
tures. And  this  was  their  appearance  ;  they  had  the  likeness 
of  a  man.  And  every  one  had  four  faces,  and  every  one  had 
four  mugs.  And  their  feet  were  straight  feet ;  and  the  sole  of 
their  feet  was  like  the  sole  of  a  calPs  foot :  and  they  sparkled 
like  the  colour  of  burnished  brass.  And  they  had  the  hands 
of  a  man  under  their  wings  on  their  four  sides ;  and  they  four 
had  their  faces  and  their  wings.  Their  wings  were  joined  one 
to  another ;  they  turned  not  when  they  went ;  they  went 
every  one  straight  forward.  As  for  the  likeness  of  their  faces, 
they  four  had  the  face  of  a  man,  and  the  face  of  a  lion,  on  the 
right  side  :  and  they  four  had  the  face  of  an  ox  on  the  left 
side  j  they  four  also  had  the  face  of  an  eagle.  Thus  were  their 
faces  :  and  their  wings  were  stretched  upward  ;  two  wings  of 
every  one  were  joined  one  to  another,  and  two  covered  their 
bodies.  And  they  went  every  one  straight  forward  :  whither 
the  spirit  was  to  go,  they  went ;  and  they  turned  not  when 
they  went." 

501.  Their  fourth  state  followed.  The  woman  still  proceed- 
ing drew  by  fine  absorptions  the  yielding  spirit  of  the  man 
toward  herself,  and  the  soft  auras  of  her  presence  diffused 
yielding  raptures  throughout  his  frame ;  the  Spirit  of  the  Word 
encompassed  them  proceeding  to  the  Most  High.  "  As  for  the 
likeness  of  the  living  creatures,  their  appearance  was  like 
burning  coals  of  fire,  and  hke  the  appearance  of  lamps  :  it 
went  up  and  down  among  the  living  creatures ;  and  the  fire 
was  bright,  and  out  of  the  fire  went  forth  lightning.'^ 


272  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [cnAP.  ii. 

502.  I  now  also  beheld  their  fifth  state,  and  the  man  said  to 
his  beloved,  "  The  rapture  is  insupportable,  nor  can  I  endure ;" 
and  she  soothed  him  with  the  kisses  of  her  mouth,  and  a  deep 
sleep  fell  upon  him,  and  the  body  of  his  essence  opened,  and 
the  spuit  of  her  essence  entered  it,  and  the  Word  encom- 
passed them.  The  spirits  of  the  atomic  particles  were  about 
them  for  a  firmament  of  amber  light,  forming  a  canopy.  The 
body  of  the  natural  soul  which  they  had  inhabited  on  the 
planet  was  beneath  them  as  if  it  also  were  a  canopy,  and  the 
two  made  one  sphere,  in  which  they  floated  on ;  but  within  it 
were  earths,  airs,  and  waters,  in  which  all  their  deeds  were 
represented,  every  good  work  as  a  living  form ;  and  over  the 
zenith  of  the  firmament  was  a  seven-fold  rainbow. 

503.  Afterward  I  looked,  and  there  were  marriage  festivities 
in  Heaven,  at  which  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  clothed  in 
sparkling  jewelled  robes,  appeared,  surrounded  by  a  celestial 
company.  Many  were  present  who  had  ministered  to  them 
during  the  period  of  their  terrestrial  existence ;  and  when  all 
respired  together  from  the  Lord,  the  Word  which  was  within 
them  combined  with  the  Word  with  each  other,  "  and  the 
living  creatures  ran  and  returned  as  the  appearance  of  a  flash 
of  lightning,^^  and  they  were  encompassed  by  spheres  of 
vaulted  firmaments  full  of  innumerable  eyes,  in  which  were  set, 
encircled  by  zodiacal  lig4its,  the  spirits  of  the  ideas  which  were 
the  Word  of  woman,  encompassed  by  the  bodies  of  the  ideas 
which  were  the  Word  of  man.  Then  I  saw  them  in  a  paradise, 
as  to  its  most  extreme  substance,  resembling  the  terrestrial 
world  of  which  they  had  been  natives.  The  wife  gave  me  a 
single  leaf;  I  laid  it  on  my  forehead,  and  for  three  nights,  in 
tranced  attitudes  of  thought,  conceived  in  the  internal  under- 
standing the  truths  of  that  wisdom  which  this  leaf  from  the 
tree  of  knowledge  in  their  Word  contained.  The  Word  was 
now  sometimes  objectively  within  them,  in  which  condition 
they  slept  as  to  the  outward  degree  of  consciousness ;  but 
sometimes  the  Word  was  without  them,  though  still  pervading, 
and  then  through  it  our  Lord,  as  through  an  ultimate  body, 
disclosed  His  infinite  presence,  and  was  their  Friend. 


SEC.  502—505.]  THE  APOGALYFSU.  273 

Chap.  ii.  24. — "  But  unto  you  I  say,  and  unto  the  best  in 
Thyatiea,    as    many    as    have    not    this    doctrine,    and 

WHICH   HAVE    NOT    KNOWN    THE     DEPTHS    OP    SaTAN,   AS    THEY 
SPEAK;    I   WILL    PUT    UPON   YOU   NONE    OTHER   BURDEN,''^ 

504.  "  Unto  you  I  say/'  signifies,  the  Divine  Voice,  audible 
tlirough  the  inmosts,  addressing  those  to  whom  the  Lord  has 
committed  the  priesthood.  This  verse  contains  arcana  per- 
taining to  the  world's  evangelization.  '^  And  unto  the  rest  in 
Thyatira,''  signifies,  that  all  who  are  of  this  genius  co-operate, 
not  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  priesthood,  but  in 
those  which  pertain  to  the  embodiment  of  the  truths  made 
known.  "  As  many  as  have  not  tins  doctrine,"  signifies,  that 
the  communications  are  addressed  in  independency  of  the  in- 
versive  movements  which  emanate  from  the  Hells.  "  And  who 
have  not  known  the  depths  of  Satan,-"  signifies,  that  in  the 
desires  of  the  will  they  have  not  been  permanently  conjoined 
with  anything  which  partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  ingressive 
movement  from  the  demons  of  the  lost  orb.  '^  As  they  speak,'' 
signifies,  three  degrees  of  resistance  by  means  of  which  the 
faithful  maintain  positive  power  against  this  inversive  move- 
ment. "1  will  put  upon  you  none  other  burden,"  signifies, 
the  ease  with  which  the  man  of  the  new  kingdom,  after  his 
entrance  into  the  possession  of  the  new  natural  soul  and  spirit, 
and  in  first  principles,  the  new  natural  body,  maintains  alle- 
giance to  divine  order. 

505.  The  arcana  concerning  the  priesthood  in  this  chm'ch, 
to  which  will  be  entrusted  no  small  share  of  the  world's  evan- 
gelization, are  in  part  as  follows.  Those  who  become  priests 
will  be  adjoined  through  series  and  degrees  to  the  working 
body,  in  which  the  truths  of  the  new  creation  are  taught  by 
means  of  a  practical  exemplification.  It  is  the  mission  of  this 
church  to  establish  harmony  tlirough  conjugial  purity.  Mis- 
sions will  be  established  in  due  time,  and  in  the  order  of  provi- 
dence, wherein  the  great  mistake  of  the  primitive  church  will 
not  be  repeated.  Those  to  whom  the  work  of  missions  is  in- 
trusted will  be,  so  far  as  possible,  individuals  selected  from 
among  the  trained,  disciplined,  tested,  and  experienced  mem- 
bers of  the  fraternity.     They  will  start  on  the  assumption  that 


274  ABCANA    OF  CHBISTIANITY.        [chap.  ii. 

the  Word  lias  no  permanent  foothold  until  it  is  embodied  in 
works.  They  will  be^  therefore,  not  alone  the  teachers  of  har- 
monic truth,  but  the  distributive  media  of  harmonic  life  and 
the  organizers  of  harmonic  civilization  for  those  who  receive  the 
truth  and  the  life. 

50G.  The  character  of  the  preaching  of  this  priesthood  may 
be  inferred  from  what  has  before  been  wi'itten.  That  preaching 
which  is  silent,  after  a  certain  point  has  been  attained,  will  be 
by  far  the  most  effectual.  Words  will  be  held  much  in  re- 
serve, but  be  ultimatcd  in  works.  But  when  words  are  given 
they  will  be  almost  overwhelming.  In  fact  the  great  danger 
against  which  they  will  have  to  guard  will  be  to  restrain  the 
impatience,  to  moderate  the  zeal,  to  temper  the  enthusiasm  of 
those  di'awn  and  charmed  by  the  magnificence  and  certainty 
and  complete  fulness  of  the  Word  thus  unveiled,  but  who  do 
not  realize  sufficiently  the  depths  of  those  corruptions  into 
which  they  have  inherited,  and  the  ordeals  through  which  they 
must  pass  in  order  to  their  deliverance. 

507.  The  history  of  religious  delusion,  were  it  accurately 
written,  in  generals  and  with  a  self-evident  truth,  would  affect 
mankind  like  another  deluge,  and  wash  away  the  past.  It 
seems  impossible  for  men  in  large  bodies  either  to  arrive  at  any 
absolute  and  fundamental  principles  in  religion,  or  even  to 
retain  for  any  continued  period  those  partial  verities,  those 
ghmpses  of  reality  afforded  to  a  better  age.  The  best  that 
can  be  said  of  any  religious  system  of  the  past  is  this,  that 
some  one  essential  truth  in  some  way  burst  forth,  and  wrought 
by  some  process  irresistible  conviction ;  or  that  some  illustrious 
personage  embodied  in  life  a  something  of  the  Divine  essence, 
and  communicated  virtue  to  his  disciples.  It  is  from  this  stand- 
point that  we  are  to  judge  religions.  Christianity  differed 
from  the  rest  in  this,  that  its  Founder  embodied  the  Infinite  in 
ultimates.  But  the  gospels,  when  considered  and  judged  by 
the  same  critical  methods  which  are  applied  to  all  other  reve- 
lations or  histories,  involve  the  candid  reader  in  no  small  per- 
plexity. The  teachings  of  Christ  are  ambiguous ;  they  are  to. 
the  natural  man  enigmatical.  A  large  portion  of  them  are 
silently  rejected  by  every  doctrinal  school.  On  one  side  of  the 
gospel  is  a  face  acceptable  to  the  Kationahst,  the  Unitarian, 


SEC.  506—508.]         TRE   APOCALYPSE.  275 

tlie  Humanitarian^  but  profoundly  repulsive  to  those  of  so-called 
evangelical,  or  ritualistic  belief;  but,  on  tbe  other  side,  a  face 
fiery  and  terrible,  wliicli  the  liberal  reject,  but  which  the  or- 
thodox, so-called,  accept  as  the  very  fulness  of  revelation. 
Suffer  the  student  to  ehminate  one  j)ortion,  and  the  residue 
appears  to  be  a  gospel  according  to  Channing  or  Parker. 
Eliminate  another  portion,  and  what  remains  might  well  serve 
as  the  nucleus  of  the  Apostles',  the  Nicene,  and  the  Athanasian 
creed.  The  astounding  fact  remains,  which  theologians  studi- 
ously put  out  of  sight,  namely,  that  the  church  of  the  first 
century  held  a  dogmatic  faith  which  is  maintained  by  none  of  the 
existing  sects  of  Christendom,  a  faith  that  is  utterly  dead.  It  is 
by  putting  an  arbitrary  gloss  upon  Scripture  that  the  natural 
man,  enlightened  according  to  the  wisdom  of  our  time,  holds  it 
at  all.     These  are  painful  reflections,  but  true  nevertheless. 

508.-  Our  Lord  said,  "  He  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Heavenly 
Father  shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God.''  He 
also  declared,  "  Blessed  are  the  pm'e  in  heart,  for  they  shall 
see  God."  Collectively  or  unitedly  these  two  affirmations  sug- 
gest a  truth  which  can  only  be  understood  through  that  uni- 
son. There  is  a  something  or  somewhat,  here  called  ''  purity," 
through  which  men  have  access  to  the  Divine  Presence. 
There  is  another  something  called  "  doing  the  will  of  God," 
which  serves  those  who  practise  it  as  an  infallible  guide  to  re- 
ligious truth,  a  test  of  revelation.  Nevertheless,  when  we 
come  to  criticise  these  statements,  we  meet  with  facts  like 
these.  The  pure  Buddhist,  whatever  be  his  purity,  is  not  led 
out  of  Buddhism.  The  pure  Mahometan  remains  a  child  of 
Islam.  The  pure  Calvinist  remains  fixed  in  the  doctrine  of 
unconditional  election  and  reprobation.  The  pure  Eationalist 
is  equally  immovable  in  his  conviction  that  the  ideas  of  God 
cherished  by  the  Calvinist  are  blasphemies  and  impieties. 
Evidently,  if  our  Lord's  statement  is  correct,  the  idea  which 
He  conveyed  by  the  term  purity  is  higher  than  the  idea  either 
of  the  Christian  or  the  Pagan  world.  So  again  with  doing 
the  wiU  of  God.  Men  with  the  same  high  aSections  and  aspi- 
rations embody,  to  a  great  extent,  the  requirements  of  the 
moral  and  ceremonial  law.  The  devout  Israelite  does  this,  and 
remains  fixed  in  the  conviction  that  Messiah  has  not  come. 

s  2 


276  ARCANA   OF  CnBISTIANITY.         [chap.  ir. 

The  Romanist  does  it^  but  remains  fixed  in  tlie  conviction  tliat 
his  sect  embodies  the  fulness  of  pure  truth  and  religion.  It  is 
sad  and  terrible  to  reflect  that  all  the  sects,  even  those  that 
most  outrage  humanity,  include  among  their  disciples  men 
and  •women  whose  purity  and  whose  works  are  unimpeachable, 
yet  who  believe,  notwithstanding,  in  all  kinds  of  hallucina- 
tions. What  does  this  mean  ?  Are  we  in  consequence  to 
make  shipwreck  of  our  faith  ?  In  spite  of  myriads  of  such 
examples,  we  hold,  as  a  fact  of  consciousness,  that  there  is  a 
purity  through  which  God  should  be  seen,  and  that  there  are 
works  through  which  every  doctrine  may  be  tested,  that  men 
may  know  beyond  doubt  the  verities  that  are  of  God. 

509.  We  are  to  bear  in  mind  that  Christ  spoke  as  never  man 
spake.  The  meaning  that  men  put  into  words  varies  according 
to  the  depth  and  fulness  of  experience.  Words  are  symbols 
which  express  a  value  dependent  upon  the  ideas  in  the  thought 
of  each  who  utters  them.  They  reveal  no  more  of  that  thought 
than  the  listener  is  able  to  appropriate.  When  a  man  says 
"purity,'^  the  word  means  as  much  as  he  means.  When  an 
angel  says  "purity,^^  the  word  means  what  the  angel  means. 
When  the  Divine  Man  says  "  purity,"  then  the  word  means 
what  the  Divine  Man  means.  So  with  the  phrase  "he  that 
doeth  the  will.'''  We  are  not  to  gauge  this  by  the  idea  of 
works  cherished  by  the  ecclesiastical  <Jew.  We  are  not  to  gauge 
it  by  any  standard  entertained  by  fallen  human  natm^e.  There 
shone  an  idea  of  what  the  will  of  God  is,  in  the  mind  of  Christ, 
that  determines  the  significance  of  the  phrase,  ''  he  that  doeth 
the  will."  He  knew  in  His  humanity  that  pm-ity  and  obedience 
organize  the  intellect  as  an  orb  to  reflect  the  lustres  of  the  In- 
finite. The  definition  of  religious  truth  accepted  in  the 
schools  is  this,  that  it  must  be  supernaturally  revealed,  but 
that,  when  revealed,  it  can  be  understood  by  the  natural  intel- 
lect of  man.  The  true  definition  is,  that  it  is  a  truth  which 
never  can  be  understood  except  by  those  who  practically  em- 
body it  in  the  life.  Hence  the  preaching  of  the  Thyatiran 
Church  will  be,  not  like  .the  preaching  of  the  pulpit,  but  like 
that  other  preaching  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee, — the  preaching  of 
truths  that  never  can  be  understood  except  as  they  are  em- 
bodied in  the  life. 


SEC.  509—511.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  277 

510.  Youtli,  early  manliood,  tlie  splendid  prime,  are  the  sea- 
sons of  liuman  eloquence.  The  luminaries  of  the  pulpit,  as  a 
rule,  are  neither  aged  men  nor  practical  men.  The  power  of 
oratory  declines  with  advancing  age.  The  Churches  ask  for 
young  and  brilliant  men.  This  is  because  the  pulpit  is  not  a 
supernatural,  but  a  natural  institution.  It  is  not  sound  health, 
but  briUiant  disease.  If  a  man  heartily  is  in  love  with  truth, 
he  does  not  require,  in  order  to  retain  it  in  memory  and  prac- 
tice, that  one  day  in  seven  should  be  given  up  to  hearing  about 
it.  If  men  heartily  love  things,  they  so  fully  embody  them 
after  a  season  that  the  truth  concerning  them  ceases  to  be  ob- 
jective ;  it  becomes  subjective,  it  is  themselves,  it  is  their  life. 
The  teaching  which  they  continue  to  require  is  of  truths  that 
they  have  not  yet  embodied.  A^Tien  they  have  embodied  them, 
they  cease  to  reqmi'e  insti^uction  in  them.  The  Chidstian 
pulpites  a  rule  is  at  daggers  di-awn  with  itself  upon  every 
question  that  is  beyond  a  mere  pagan  morality;  it  does  not 
lead  men  farther  in  regeneration  than  does  the  system  of  Con- 
facius.  It  exists  upon  the  alms  and  sufferance  of  a  debased 
pubhc  sentiment.  This  the  truly  heroic  and  just  men  in  the 
pulpits  of  all  sects  know  to  be  a  fact.  The  Christian  Churches 
are  like  files  of  blind  men  walking  in  the  dark,  and  stumbling 
over  the  dead  bodies  of  the  advance  guard,  killed,  not  by  the 
enemy,  but  through  murderous  dissensions  among  themselves. 

511.  It  is  with  a  knowledge  of  all  these  facts  that  the 
Thyatiran  Church  renews  the  task  of  preaching  the  Gospel 
that  Christ  taught,  and  renews  it  at  that  very  point  where  the 
original  behevers  faltered ;  renews  it  with  the  jaossession  of  the 
signs  which  Christ  predicted;  and  only  counts  those  as  truly 
rescued  from  religious  delusion,  in  whom  those  signs  appear 
that  are  promised  to  all  who  shall  behove.  It  is  a  preaching 
as  of  John  the  Baptist.  Our  ears  are  saluted  with  the  cry, 
"  Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand.^^  But 
John  came  baptizing  with  water,  while  those  to  whom  this 
ministry  is  committed  shall  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
with  fire.  This  ministry  does  not  depend  for  success  upon  the 
eloquence  of  the  statement ;  the  bare  enunciation  of  the  truth 
in  the  Spirit  is  all  sufficient.  It  is  so  entirely  unartificial,  so 
Divinely  natural,  that  its  doctrines  are  as  the  dew,  percolating 


278  ARCANA    OF  CREISTIANITY.        [chap.  n. 

and  penetrating  everywhere.  Tliis  ministry  has  no  more  formal 
piety  than  the  wild  roses  in  a  hedge-row,  or  the  larks  who  sing 
as  sweetly  on  the  Sabbath  as  if  it  were  a  week  day.  It  comes 
eating  and  drinking.  It  is  so  grandly  true  as  to  afford  to  dis- 
pense with  all  professional  dignities.  How  grand  is  that  man 
who  in  simple  humility  can  take  his  place  as  one  of  a  series  of 
cordwainers  or  tailors,  reaching  them  through  adopting  their 
peculiar  handicraft,  making  himself  one  with  them  by  a 
common  burden  and  a  common  skill,  and  so  revealing  Christ 
the  God,  till  that  chamber  of  industry  gathers  into  itself,  as 
into  the  disc  of  a  burning  glass,  the  diffused  rays  of  Divinity 
that  flow  thi'ough  Heaven  !  It  is  not  Chrysostom,  the  mouth 
of  gold,  that  preaches  here.  The  mechanic  will  thus  go,  high^ 
awful,  sacerdotal ;  and  so  will  he  communicate  to  those  of  his 
own  pecuKar  trade.  Thus  too,  mariners  will  reach  mariners, 
and  nobles  will  reach  nobles.  Thus  every  man  will  hear  the 
Gospel  preached  in  his  own  tongue,  that  is,  through  his  own 
peculiarities  of  mind  and  ways  of  life.  It  is  the  blessed  pecu- 
liarity of  this  peo]3le  that  they  are  all-penetrative  and  all-diffu- 
sive. They  are  as  the  dew  that  falls,  and  as  the  sun  that 
shines.  They  do  not  go  like  the  theorists  of  medicine,  who 
carry  a  verbal  theory  of  health ;  but  they  go  with  health,  and  so 
with  power.  In  this  universe  all  shams  in  the  long  run  expose 
themselves  :  this  ministry  will  not  perform  the  miserable  task 
of  the  controversialist;  it  will  carry,  not  contradictions,  but 
aJBfirmations  ;  its  voice  will  be  '^yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay,  for 
whatsoever  is  more  than  these  cometh  of  evil.'^  Instrumentally, 
it  will  redeem  men  by  adopting  them.  It  is  filled  and  bur- 
dened, and  carries  with  it  that  spirit  and  power  of  adoption, 
whereby  men  cry,  "  Abba,  Father."  The  arms  of  the  Divine 
Maternity  and  Paternity  put  forth  through  it  will  gather  the 
desolate  and  outcast,  but  yearning  and  contrite  myriads,  into 
purity  and  solidarity ;  and  so  the  pure  shall  see  God,  and  so 
those  who  do  the  will  of  the  Father  shall  know  the  doctrine, 
whether  it  be  of  God. 

512.  Christ  came  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  The  universal 
salvation  that  He  brings  is  made  up  of  all  particular  salvations. 
This  is  the  test  which  determines  the  value  of  all  systems  which 
claim  to  represent  Christianity.     The  test  of  the  Divinity  of  a 


SEC.  512—513.]        TRE   AFOGALTPSK  279 

religion  for  a  nation  is,  tliat  it  shall  bring  all  things  needful  for 
overcoming  tlie  evil  of  a  nation.  It  must  be  able  to  solve  the 
intricacies  of  its  pohtics,  and  to  place  its  affairs  upon  a  solid 
footing,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  So  when  a  religion  is 
brought  to  a  trade,  the  test  is  that  it  brings  salvation  for 
the  trade ;  as  for  instance,  it  must  be  able  to  go  to  London 
tailors  and  Sheffield  cutlers,  and  open  modes  of  operation  by 
which  each  industry  may  lay  off  its  vile  raiment,  its  sordors 
and  filths,  and  come  out  of  its  huts  and  kennels,  and  put 
on  beautiful  garments,  and  enter  with  singings  and  rejoic- 
ings into  the  industrial  palaces  of  God.  It  must  come  with  the 
special  remedy  for  the  special  want,  the  special  cleansing  for 
the  special  defilement,  the  special  opportunity  for  the  special 
necessity.  An  archbishop,  so  to  speak,  of  industry ;  in  other 
words,  an  hierarchal  man  going  forth  from  Church  Thyatira  as 
she  becomes  an  organized  power,  should  be  able  to  organize  all 
obedient  men,  all  just  men  of  a  given  employment  in  any  place, 
till  each  worker  is  found  as  a  distinct  leaflet  in  the  corolla  of 
one  flower,  or  as  a  separate  note  in  one  Divine  symphony. 

513.  So,  but  with  even  a  more  intense  and  absolute  force, 
this  ministry  must  be  able  to  rescue  the  womanhood  in  each 
craft ;  nay  more,  to  organize  crafts  for  womanhood ;  to  search 
out  for  her  through  the  industrial  slums,  to  rescue  her  from 
the  industrial  prison  houses,  to  stand  between  her  and  her 
enemy  as  an  angel  of  defence,  between  her  and  her  God  as  a 
celestial  form  of  life  and  inspiration.  So,  once  more,  the  test 
of  the  divinity  of  a  gospel  to  the  individual  man  is,  that  it 
comes  with  a  specific  application  to  his  own  case ;  comes  to 
each  individual  woman  as  Jesus  came  of  old.  Much  here,  as  in 
a  former  instance,  wherein  "  works  '^  are  specified,  is  omitted 
because  it  is  almost  impossible,  in  the  present  narrowness  of 
thought,  and  with  the  present  limits  of  language,  to  utter 
those  oracles  of  mercy  with  which  the  heart  of  Heaven  over- 
flows. This  ministry  rescues  the  gospel  both  from  its  his- 
torical perversions  and  its  literal  technicalities.  It  sets  men 
to  building,  not  cathedrals,  but  godly,  industrial  harmonics. 
It  recognises  the  truth,  that  God  docs  not  live  in  sacred 
edifices  like  St.  Paul's  or  St.  Peter's,  technically  set  apart  to 
what   are  called,  but  profanely   called,   "  religious  services.'' 


280  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  it. 

The  French  socialist  writes  in  his  book,  "  Property  is  robbery," 
but  God  writes  iu  His  record,  "  Ecclesiasticism,  when  debased,  is 
robbery ;  ecclesiasticism  is  sacrilege/^  It  is  a  curse  and  a  shamo 
for  England,  that  it  devotes  stately  temples  to  bo  inhabited 
during  the  week  by  rats,  but  perpetuates  a  system  that  huddles 
together  childhood  and  womanhood,  and  manhood  and  old  age, 
vice  and  virtue,  purity  and  prostitution,  honesty  and  robbery, 
as  the  prisoners  were  crowded  in  the  black  hole  of  Calcutta, 
or  almost  as  the  victims  are  flung  into  promiscuous  heaps  in 
the  holds  of  slavers.  This  too  is  the  crime  of  all  so-called 
Christian  nations.  The  Church  that  cannot  solve  every  social 
problem  is  no  Church ;  at  best  it  is  but  a  memory  or  a  pro- 
phecy ;  for  the  test  of  a  Church  is  that  it  brings  salvation. 

514.  Another  peculiarity  of  this  ministry  is,  that  it  reverses 
the  common  maxims  and  practices  in  regard  to  charity.  Those 
most  liberal  iu  alms-giving  are  often  the  perpetuators  and 
generators  of  shame,  want  and  misery ;  for  instance,  without 
changing  the  spiritual  state  of  a  horde  of  Irish  peasants,  a 
benevolent  person  supplies  the  pittance  that  is  wanting  to 
keep  them  in  theii'  yearly  meal  and  potatoes.  The  result  is 
that,  instead  of  being  forced  by  necessity,  which  is  often  the 
only  effectual  teacher,  to  change  their  indolent  and  barbarous 
customs,  they  live  as  their  fathers  did,  and  multiply  a  barba- 
rian race,  the  slaves  of  the  most  oppressive  priesthood  under 
the  sun.  There  is  a  charity,  so-called,  that  is  sometimes 
murder.  The  general  rule  is  that  alms  emasculate  the  receiver. 
Society  cannot  be  saved  till  the  means  squandered  in  alms- 
giving are  devoted  to  the  organization  of  industry.  The  alms 
given  to  poor  seamstresses  swell  the  profit  of  the  middle  men, 
who  keep  slop-shops.  So  long  as  the  wants  of  any  industrial 
class  can  be  partially  supplied  by  charity,  wages  are  kept  down 
in  the  same  ratio.  The  motto  of  the  Brethren  of  the  New 
Life  is,  "  Charity  is  organization.''^  Alms-giving  perpetuates 
poverty,  but  organization  abolishes  poverty. 

515.  The  Thyatiran  Church  is  the  church  of  social  re- 
organization. It  must  organize  industry  upon  the  ground  of 
purity,  or  be  blotted  from  existence.  Its  ministry,  therefore, 
moving  forth  from  the  bosom  of  a  solidarity,  carries  with  it  a 
re-oro-aniziuc;   force.      It    cannot    convert   a  middle-man  and 


SEC.  514—516.]  TH:E   AFOCALTPSK  281 

leave  liim  a  middle-man.  It  cannot  convert  tlie  non-pro- 
ductive and  leave  th.em  non-productive ;  it  turns  everythino" 
to  use.  It  finds  men  gathered  in  social  hordes  ',  it  leads  tliem 
forth  to  be  the  dwellers  in  industrial  paradises.  It  cures  the 
barbarism  of  society  by  first  removing  the  barbarism  of  the 
heart.  Christendom  puts  the  new  wine  in  old  bottles ;  sur- 
rounds good  men  with  evil  conditions ;  places  virtuous  women 
who  are  queens  on  pillars  where  they  stand  alone  in  terrible 
isolation,  and  murders  annual  myriads  of  the  queen^s  sisters 
at  the  foot  of  the  pillar.  Men  blame  the  Jewish  hierarchy  for 
crucifying  Chi'ist.  They  said,  "  He  is  a  good  man,  yet  we 
must  destroy  Him  if  we  would  preserve  .the  state."  But 
France  is  a  Christian  nation,  and  in  its  great  industrial  centres, 
ninety  nine  per  cent,  of  the  children  are  sacrificed  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  labour  market,  and  this  is  justified  on  the 
plea  Crf  the  same  necessity.  So  in  Great  Britain  and  America ; 
the  hands  of  the  State  are  gory,  and  its  robes  bedabbled  and 
its  feet  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  innocent. 

516.  So  with  what  is  called  the  ''  social  evil."  In  many  re- 
spects the  condition  of  woman  is  higher  and  better  among  the 
Mahometan  than  among  the  Christian  nations.  Christendom 
says  that  prostitution  is  the  foulest  crime  for  woman  in  this 
world,  and  entails  the  most  inevitable  damnation  for  the  world 
to  come.  But,  while  saying  this,  it  brings  up  myinads  of 
females  in  such  mental  and  moral  states  that  their  power  of 
resistance  to  evil  is  almost  destroyed,  and  then  so  closes  up  the 
avenues  to  remunerative  toil,  and  so  subjects  them  to  the  sharp 
competitions  and  periodical  famines  of  the  labour  market,  that 
they  are  literally  forced  into  the  brothel  to  escape  starvation. 
Christendom  is  the  disgrace  and  scandal  of  the  world.  We  are 
a  people  of  hard  hearts  and  reprobate  minds.  Men  occupy 
the  centres  both  of  aristocratic  and  democratic  rule,  who  com- 
bine the  cruelties  of  the  pirate  and  the  lusts  of  the  adulterer. 
Men  occupy  the  centres  of  ecclesiastical  rule,  who  indirectly 
fatten  upon  the  spoils  of  piracy  and  upooi  the  wages  of  adultery. 
We  are  so  accustomed  to  compromise  between  good  and 
evil  that  we  have  lost  sight  of  their  distinctions.  The  com- 
pass of  the  heart  turns  no  more  toward  Christ,  the  load- 
stone.    We   have   made   this    Christendom,    not   a   house   of 


282  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

prayer,  but  a  den  of  thieves.  Now  comes  tlio  ministry  of  de- 
liverance ;  a  cliiircli  wliicli  brings  spiritual  salvation  from  spiri- 
tual evils,  moral  salvation  from  moral  evils,  physical  salvation 
from  physical  evils,  industrial  salvation  from  industrial  evils,  pas- 
sional salvation  from  passional  c\'ils,  and  social  salvation  from 
social  evils,  and  thus  universal  salvation  from  universal  evil. 

Chap.  ii.  25. — "  But  that  which  ye  have  already  hold  fast 
till  i  come." 

517.  In  the  significance  of  this  passage  many  things  are 
contained  of  the  last  importance  to  be  known.  First,  it  con- 
tains a  full  exposition  of  the  glorious  second  coming  of  our 
Lord.  AVhen  He  ascended  up  on  high,  the  human  being 
glorified  in  the  Divine,  He  appeared  in  a  sublime  series  of 
manifestations  from  Heaven  to  Heaven ;  but  He  will  descend 
in  like  manner  as  He  ascended,  visible  again  as  the  Word 
made  flesh,  from  the  inmosts  to  the  outmosts  of  the  Heavens, 
retracing  His  triumphal  pathway ;  no  more  to  suffer,  and  in 
His  human  person  no  more  to  die.  When  man  attains  open 
respiration  and  becomes  in  all  things  new,  the  eyes  of  the 
spirit  being  opened,  the  glorified  human  person  of  the  Lord  in 
which  the  Divine  is  visible,  is  from  time  to  time  apparent.  To 
eye,  to  ear,  to  the  sense  of  touch,  to  the  whole  sensitive  body, 
and  to  every  faculty  of  the  adoring,  the  worsliipping,  and  the 
loving  heart,  Jesus  is  revealed,  the  God  of  universes,  the  All- 
Father. 

518.  There  are  time  and  sense  manifestations  of  our  Divine 
Eedeemer,  since  He  has  assumed  and  been  glorified  in  the  hu- 
man person,  upon  the  harmonic  planets.  Instantly,  in  concrete 
ultimated  substance,  the  Lord  stands  apparent  to  their  worship- 
ping gaze,  breathes  out  a  blessing,  and  is  invisible  again.  So 
also  the  earth  will  yet  behold  Him,  standing  for  the  time  in  a 
luminous  body,  as  instantaneously  visible  as  a  kindled  lamp,  but 
becoming  invisible  with  the  same  instantaneousness.  He  in- 
folded, when  He  ascended,  the  primates  and  the  ultimates  of  the 
body  into  Himself,  and  re-appears  by  unfolding  the  spirits  of 
the  primates  and  ultimates  which  embody  themselves  in  atmos- 
pheric particles.  Altogether  more  glorious  in  majesty  than 
can  be  conceived,  Jesus  will  re-appear  on  earth,  sometimes 


SEC.  517—520.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.       ^  283 

where  but  one  is,  at  others  to  a  conjugial  pair,  and  then  where 
two  or  three  are  gathered  together,  and  then  where  hundreds 
are  respiring  in  the  new  breath,  until  all  flesh  shall  see  Him 
together.  Nor  will  these  manifestations  be  uniform  as  to  the 
degree  of  glory,  but  vary.  To  the  man  of  the  Ephesian 
Chui'ch,  spii-itually.  He  will  be  glorious  in  the  resplendence  of 
the  Celestial  Heaven.  To  the  man  of  the  Smyrnian  Church, 
the  awful  intellectual  beauty  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven  will 
irradiate  His  person.  To  the  man  of  the  Church  of  Pergamos, 
He  will  come  in  the  rich  displays  of  a  joy-diffusing  health  and 
vigour,  in  which  He  is  visible  in  the  Ultimate  Heaven ;  walking 
in  each  church  according  to  its  degree. 

619.  There  are  wounds  throughout  the  internal  spaces  of 
the  natural  organism,  which  can  only  be  healed  through  the 
direct  action  of  the  human  person  of  the  Lord.  In  His  second 
coming.  He  descends  to  each  especial  object  of  His  ministra- 
tions, spiritually  to  his  spu^t,  and  bodily  to  his  natural  person ; 
for  instance,  if  there  are  wounds  in  the  internal  spaces  of  the 
heart,  it  is  thi'ough  the  organs  of  His  own  Divine-human  heart 
that  the  healing  processes  are  carried  on.  Evil  passions  that 
have  their  home  within  man's  natural  organism,  by  their  pre- 
sence and  inevitable  action,  exercise  a  destructive  power. 
First,  they  corrupt  the  nervous  fluid;  second,  they  engender 
noxious  forms  through  all  the  expanses ;  third,  they  pierce  and 
wound,  organ  by  organ,  the  house  of  the  body,  the  vital  shell, 
destroy  its  defences,  and  open  avenues  by  means  of  which  in- 
fernal poisons  may  flow  in.  As  man  becomes  regenerate  and 
devotes  himself  to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  the  spirit  of  right- 
eousness, henceforth  enthroned  within  the  spiritual  will,  coerces 
the  natural  will,  coerces  the  natural  mind,  coerces  the  natural 
body,  and  endeavours  to  hold  in  strict  subjection  the  natural 
appetites  and  passions  in  which  evils  have  their  dwelling-place. 
In  the  openings  of  respiration,  the  old  warfare,  which  was  one 
of  coercion,  is  merged  in  a  more  terrible  warfare,  which  is  one 
of  destruction. 

520.  It  has  been  shown  heretofore  that  ancestral  and  ac- 
quired evils  generate  myriads  of  living  lusts  within  the  bodily 
frame.  These  are  the  tenants  of  the  natural  man's  personal 
world.     With  the  advance  of  respiration,  they  arc  restricted 


284  ARCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITY.        [chap.  it. 

withiu  narrower  boiaudarics.  As  tlie  divine  fire  proceeds  from 
one  continuous  degree  to  another,  many  organic  lusts  are  suf- 
focated, and  60  expire.  Those  which  escape  hide  themselves 
more  deeply  within  the  centres  of  the  nervous  essence.  As 
gradually  the  nervous  essence  itself  is  permeated  by  a  new 
nervous  clement,  the  lusts  that  have  retreated  into  it  are 
pierced  and  slain,  till  finally  the  expanses  of  the  body,  to  a 
great  degree,  are  depopulated  of  the  natural  and  carnal  appe- 
tites. The  old  natural  soul,  however,  which  is  evil  and  irre- 
claimable, exists  within  the  body  as  an  unconquered  'fortress 
in  the  midst  of  a  city  that  has  been  conquered,  depopulated 
of  its  former  inhabitants,  and  subjected  to  a  better  sway. 
Still,  though  coerced  and  hemmed  in  on  every  side,  the  re- 
maining lusts  of  the  body  live  within  the  life,  and  are  mar- 
shalled within  the  organs  of  the  corrupt  natural  soul,  but 
otherwise  the  body  is  reduced  to  a  negative  and  passive  order ; 
it  is  a  land  held  under  military  rule. 

521.  In  this  condition  the  inner  form  of  the  person  resembles 
a  palHd  corpse  ;  the  pathetic  language  of  the  Preacher,  who  de- 
scribes old  age,  applies  to  it  with  a  most  pecuhar  significance. 
"Those  who  look  out  of  the  windows  are  darkened;  desire  fails  ; 
the  mourners  go  about  the  streets ;  the  years  draw  nigh  wherein 
they  say,  I  have  no  pleasm'e  in  them."  As  the  Lord  destroyed 
the  first-born  of  Egypt,  so,  passing  through  this  land,  Ho  has 
smitten  the  sentient  lusts ;  they  have  inhaled  the  fiery  flame 
and  perished.  He  has  truly  come  as  a  refiner's  fire.  Here  are 
human  continents  where  every  passional  voice  has  ceased,  and 
where  the  cities  of  the  sensations  are  tcnantless  of  their  ancient 
dwellers ;  it  is  like  bmied  Nineveh,  or  Tadmor  in  the  Wil- 
derness. 

522.  The  jjrocesses  which  ensue  can  hardly  be  understood, 
but  by  personal  experience.  While  the  old  natural  soul  con- 
tinues to  exist,  the  forms  and  elements  of  the  new  creation, 
which  are  introduced  into  the  frame,  are  the  results  of  a  special 
process,  not  of  re-creation,  but  of  preparation  for  re-creation. 
The  condition  is  anomalous.  The  sin  growths  which  have  been 
destroyed  were  unfolded  by  a  process  of  natural  development. 
The  results  of  spontaneity,  they  were  germinated  and  matured 
in  obedience  to  the  organic  law  through  the  pivotal  action  of 


SEC.  521—523.]         THE   APOCALTFSK  285 

the  natural  soul.  The  whole  process^  though  in  an  evil  sense, 
was  as  normal  as  are  the  developments  and  prolifications  in  the 
natural  world.  The  evil  lusts  were  the  natural  and  normal 
products  of  the  natural  man.  It  is  different  with  that  which 
succeeds.  The  new  nervous  fluids  and  essences  are  radiated 
throughout  the  person  and  made  available  for  the  purposes  of 
life,  they  are  constantly  renewed,  and  led  from  one  degree  of 
potency  to  another,  and  extended  throughout  the  spaces  of  the 
frame,  by  the  pivotal  action  of  another  natural  soul,  that  which 
exists  in  the  human  person  of  the  Lord.  Of  Him,  by  Him,  and 
through  Him  is  this  stupendous  re-creation  carried  on.  The  new 
nervous  element  is  formed  in  the  Lord^s  descent,  and  by  and 
through  the  action  of  the  natural  soul  which  He  assumed  in  the 
incarnation.  This  element  exists  first  in  a  single  degree,  but 
is  then  gradually  divided  into  seven  continuous  degrees,  in  each 
of  which  glows  a  separate  warmth  of  the  Divine  heart,  shines  a 
separate  light  of  the  Divine  mind,  and  operates  a  separate 
power  of  the  Divine  activity,  all  in  their  unition  being  one. 
During  the  course  of  these  changes  there  are  continual  modifi- 
cations in  the  respirations.  Openings  are  made,  by  means  of 
which  the  dead  forms  that  were  evil  lusts  are  cast  out  upon  the 
natural  air ;  those  in  the  province  corresponding  to  the  under- 
standing being  expelled  through  the  left  nostril,  and  those  of 
the  province  corresponding  to  the  will  by  the  right.  This  pro- 
cess continues,  through  obedience  to  the  Divine  command- 
ments, until  the  old  nervous  element  and  all  the  corrupt  motives 
within  it  are  expelled ;  till  in  fine,  so  far  as  thus  relates,  "  the 
former  things  have  passed  away,  and  all  things  become  new.''' 
523.  When  the  new  nerve  essence  begins  to  be  unfolded, 
first  it  is  a  vacancy,  changing  from  day  to  day.  It  be- 
comes at  length  a  fit  receptacle  for  the  habitation  of  new 
motives  in  each  degree,  and  these  are  in  the  human  form,  male 
and  female.  The  prohfications  that  take  place  through  them 
are  by  means  of  conjoined  pairs,  and  begotten  through  obe- 
dience upon  the  part  of  the  man.  The  now  nerve-essence,  as  it 
is  formed,  serves  as  a  boundary,  whoso  fiery  outer  wall,  though 
it  may  be  attacked  by  evil  spirits  and  demons,  cannot,  except 
through  disobedience,  be  overthrown  ;  and  the  embattled  mo- 
tives of  good  sui-round  the  new  man,  fighting  for  him  to  resist 


286  ABCANA    OF    CIIBISTIANITT.  [chap.  ii. 

and  put  down  the  invadinf^  evils  wliicli  seek  to  enter  in  and 
take  possession  of  him.  The  man,  in  his  turn,  must  maintain 
the  new  nerve-essence,  because  it  is  founded  on  the  breaths, 
and  subsists  through  instant  influx  from  the  Lord.  It  is 
called  by  a  name  in  the  celestial  dialect  which  signifies  plea- 
santness, and  also  in  the  spiritual  by  an  epithet  indicating 
peace.  A  proverb  is  extant,  coming  from  remote  antiquity, 
that  "  all  its  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  its  paths 
are  peace." 

524.  The  motives  in  the  province  of  the  nerve-essence, 
which  represents  the  mind  in  its  new  state,  are  all  to  tliink  the 
Lord's  truth ;  and  the  varieties  of  the  motives  there  are  ac- 
cording: to  the  varieties  of  truths  in  the  Word.  The  motives 
in  the  province  which  corresponds  to  the  heart,  desire  unceas- 
ingly that  the  Lord's  will  may  be  done  and  no  other.  They 
are  distributed  in  groups  which  correspond  to  the  distribution 
of  the  Divine  volitions  through  the  recipient  affections.  The 
motives  of  good  and  truth  coalesce,  and  are  as  one  in  tliis 
grand  attribute.  The  motives  in  the  new  body  of  the  nerve- 
essence  are  all  to  do  the  Lord's  will,  and  they  are  arrayed  in 
societies  according  to  the  varieties  of  deeds  through  whicb 
that  will  is  to  be  wrought  out.  The  bodies  of  the  motives  in 
their  separate  and  combined  conditions  are  vehicles  for  the 
descent  of  special  inspirations,  having  no  life  in  themselves,  or 
wMch,  properly  speaking,  may  be  called  their  own.  Instan- 
taneous obedience  as  a  condition  is  thus  kept  up,  the  nerve- 
essence  in  its  body  and  through  its  motives  serving  as  a  new 
temple,  in  which  the  will  and  the  understanding,  themselves  at 
one,  respiring,  conspiring,  and  expiring  as  the  breath  of  God 
is  operant  in  them,  grow  wise  and  loving  in  obedience  to 
them. 

525.  The  experience  of  St.  Paul  struck  the  key-note  which 
determined  the  experience  of  subsequent  Christian  ages. 
Evidently  at  the  first  he  was  under  the  impression  that  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  in  him  was  destined  to  bring  about  both 
spiritual  and  corporeal  redemption.  He  was,  at  first,  in  a 
state  of  wonderful  mental  exhilaration  and  elevation;  by  a 
transfer  of  sensations  he  felt  the  regenerative  life  of  Christ 
working  within  him,  whUe  the  body  seemed  to  sympathise  and 


SEC.  524—526.]  THE   AP0CALYP8K  287 

to  throw  open  all  its  cloors^  as  triuinplial  arcliways  for  tlie 
entrance  of  the  Eang  of  Glory.  It  was  for  liim  afterward  to 
realise  that  in  the  state  of  closed  respiration  there  is  no  bodily 
redemption,  but,  at  the  highest,  bodily  subjugation  and 
passional  extinction.  It  is  affecting  to  trace  out  through  the 
epistles  the  perilous  line  of  his  experience.  He  tells  us  how 
sin  revived  in  him,  and  he  died ;  in  other  words  how  the 
carnal  and  natural  man,  stunned  with  the  flash  and  the  visita- 
tion of  the  Spirit  until  it  lay  as  dead,  woke  from  that  seeming 
trance  and  powerfully  warred  against  the  work  of  regeneration 
in  the  will.  He  groaned  under  the  bondage  of  corruption. 
He  clearly  saw  that  under  the  spiritual  administration  in- 
augurated through  the  Apostles  the  corporeal  nature  of  man 
might  be  held  in  check,  but  could  not  be  regenerated.  To  his 
perception  the  whole  world  was  in  hke  condition.  He  lived 
continually  in  hopes  of  a  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  which 
should  accomplish  that  which  was  left  unfinished  in  His  first 
advent. 

526.  This  doctrine  has  long  lost  its  life,  and  exists  but  as 
bony  remains.  The  popular  theory  with  those  divines  who 
most  embody  and  represent  the  fine  cultm^e  and  philanthropy 
of  the  present  day  is  radically  different.  Men  once  recognised 
that  physical  death  was  an  anomaly,  the  result  of  the  apostasy 
of  the  race,  and  symbohcally  they  made  the  tomb  a  place  of 
desolation;  now  the  sepulchre  is  a  parterre  of  ilowers.  We 
look  upon  physical  death,  in  the  main,  as  a  normal  and  neces- 
sary fact,  whose  symbols  are  the  bud  that  parts  the  calyx  to 
become  a  flower,  or  the  insect  that  sheds  the  chrysalis  and  puts 
on  the  butterfly.  It  is  the  age  of  the  apotheosis  of  Natural 
Eeligion, — not  the  Divine-natural  but  the  sentimental-natural. 
The  preaching  of  the  great  popular  divines  most  in  sympathy 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  of  the  same  character.  If  the 
doctrine  of  the  corruption  of  the  natural  heart  is  retained  as  a 
formula,  the  feai'ful  reality  of  which  it  is  the  exponent  is  buried 
out  of  sight.  The  current  idea  is  that,  though  possibly  the 
spiritual  nature  of  man  may  require  redemption,  the  natural 
and  passional  body  is  already  in  harmony  with  God's  gracious 
and  glorious  creation  in  the  visible  universe.  Men  who  be- 
lieve that  the  spiritual  affections  are  corrupt,  and  cannot,  with- 


288  ABC  AN  A   OF  CUBISTIANITT.  [chap.  it. 

out  entire  transformation,  enter  into  tlie  kingdom  of  God,  vir- 
tually hold  the  body,  unless  diseased,  to  be  a  piece  of  pure^ 
healthful,  and  uncorrupt  creation. 

527.  A  large  class  have  swung  in  the  extreme  reaction  to  an 
error  directly  opposite  to  that  of  the  Manichees.  These  sec- 
tarists  held  that  the  spirit  was  incorrupt  and  incorruptible, 
and  the  body  only  capable  of  sin.  How  obvious  it  is  that  a 
great  heresy  is  now  springing  up,  which  virtually  teaches  that, 
though  the  spirit  is  liable  to  corruption,  man^s  natural  essence 
and  organism,  his  primal,  natural  instincts  and  appetites,  in 
their  actual  state  and  exercise,  are  beautiful,  and  sweet,  and 
holy.  But  it  is  evident  that  there  was  a  natural  fall  from 
natural  holiness,  as  well  as  a  spiritual  fall  from  spiritual  holi- 
ness. Apostasy  and  degeneracy  adhere  not  alone  to  man^s 
invisible  and  psychical  essence.  Men  act  on  the  theory  that 
the  body  is  naturally  incorrupt,  and  that  its  instincts  only 
require  guidance  and  direction ;  they  are  far  from  believing 
that  the  body  is  naturally  corrupt,  and  that  its  passions  and 
its  motives  require  extinction. 

528.  Through  this  great  error  Theology  is  vitiated,  and  the 
stream  of  the  Divine  teachings  turned  aside  from  men.  Who 
can  make  a  mother  believe  that  the  body  of  her  babe  is  other- 
wise than  pure  ?  Who  can  make  a  lover  believe  that  the 
person  of  his  mistress  is  other  than  sacred,  and  redolent  of  the 
aromas  of  Divinity?  The  nineteenth  centmy  renaissance  clings 
to  the  Christian  doctrine  that  man  is  fallen  and  needs  a  Saviour 
spiritually,  while  it  vii'tually  admits  that  man  has  not  fallen 
corporeally  and  naturally.  But  in  giving  up  the  ultimate 
ground  of  Christianity,  it  prepares  the  way  for  the  extir- 
pation of  Christianity.  If  sin,  organically  reproduced  from 
the  beginning  of  the  ages,  has  not  been  able  to  corrupt  the 
instincts  and  the  appetites  through  which  it  has  held 
corporeal  sway,  what  is  it  but  a  myth,  a  chimera  ?  If  our 
childi-en  inherit  incorrupt  natural  organisms,  then  sin  itself  is 
but  a  weakness  and  a  circumstance.  "  Nature,^'  says  Emer- 
son, "  is  incorrupt,  but  man  has  fallen.^'  Out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  apostle  of  Natm'alism,  the  Spirit  speaks  to  overwhelm  his 
fallacy.  We  are  approaching  the  era  of  the  deification  of  the 
natural  soul,  its  instincts  and  its  appetites.     It  has  escaped 


SEC.  527-530.]         THE    APOCALYPSE.  289 

already  from  the  theological  ban^  and  arrays,  in  behalf  of  its 
progeny,  the  finest  eloquence  of  the  Churches.  The  outposts 
of  the  Christian  faith  are  thus  given  to  the  enemy ;  yet 
here  it  is  difficult  to  convince  men  intellectually  that  the 
natural  motives  and  affections  are  apostate  ;  they  must  be 
converted  vitally  and  know  it  experimentally. 

529.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  Satan  is  fighting  and  at 
present  winning  the  battle  of  the  world.  Men  do  not  feel  that 
they  are  depraved  bodily,  and  therefore  deny  that  they  are 
depraved  bodily.  The  natural  mind  and  heart  are  obdurate; 
because  the  spiritual  nature  of  man,  even  though  it  has  begun 
to  be  regenerate,  is  in  a  measure  driven  out  of  the  corporeal 
frame.  The  moral  life  is  excluded  from  the  natural  sensations, 
but  they  have  an  infernal  life  within  them,  and  this  thing  can 
be  proved  irresistibly.  AVhen  spiritual  communications  are 
opened,  invisibles  communicate,  whom  every  Christian  man 
is  forced  to  admit  are  devils,  because  their  teaching  and  the 
consequences  of  their  operation  are  infernal.  The  force  that 
moves  ponderous  substances,  that  creates  flaming  lights,  that 
uplifts  human  bodies,  is  a  dynamic  power, — that  is  a  spiritual 
operation.  Now  thousands  of  Christian  poets,  artists,  theo- 
logians, devotees,  have  assisted  in  these  seances,  and  their 
bodily  sensations  have  been  sympathetic  with  this  element. 
What  does  that  prove  ?  It  proves  that  the  lives,  the  essences, 
the  elements,  the  sensations  of  their  corporeal  natures,  are 
akin  to  the  virus  and  madness  and  devilishness  of  infernal  will- 
force  and  so  of  hell  fire. 

530.  How  infernally  corrupt  then  must  be  the  natural  sen- 
sations of  man,  if  he  can  take  elements  into  his  body,  sur- 
charged with  the  essences  of  the  lust  and  hate  of  the  demons  of 
the  pit,  and  be  soothed  and  stimulated  or  exhilarated  thereby  ! 
Man  is  involved  in  a  gross,  sensuous  apostasy,  which  is  the 
result  of  a  gross  spiritual  apostasy.  Paul  was  right :  "  The 
flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit.^^  Bodily  we  transmit  from  gene- 
ration to  generation  the  virus  of  that  old  serpent,  who  coiled 
himself  amidst  Eden's  flowers  ;  and  the  reason  why  men  have 
no  sensational  discrimination  between  divine  influences  and 
diabolical  influences,  is  because  the  senses  themselves  are  in- 
toxicated by  this  \arus,  and  steeped  in  its  pollutions.     AVhen 

T 


290  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIAN  ITT.  [cnip.  ir. 

St.  Paul  wrote,  "  I  see  another  law  in  my  members  warring 
against  the  law  of  my  mind/'  the  old  nerve  essence,  with  its 
inbred  motives,  was  resisting  the  Spirit  of  holiness  and  obe- 
dience that  wrought  upon  the  will.  The  motives  inbred  in  the 
old  nerve  essence  never  die  so  long  as  the  life  of  the  body 
endures,  unless  the  natural  lungs  begin  to  be  perforated  by 
the  fire  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  On  this  point  the  Lord,  in  His 
second  coming,  centres  the  ultimates  of  force,  as,  in  His  first 
coming.  He  centred  the  beginnings  of  force  upon  the  inmost 
principle  of  the  spiritual  will. 

531.  "That  which  ye  have  already,  hold  fast  till  I  come," 
signifies,  the  maintenance  of  the  good  afiections  in  the  con- 
trite and  submissive  will,  in  their  warfare  against  the  old  in- 
herited and  inbred  motives  in  the  body  of  the  former  nervous 
essence.  The  kingdom  of  order  established  throughout  the 
extenses  of  the  frame,  when  the  new  nervous  essence  is  un- 
folded, and  when  the  new  motives  have  their  place,  is  seen, 
when  the  eye  is  opened  into  this  plane  of  sight,  as  a  paradise 
of  fairy  nations.  These  are  the  new  motives,  and  they  are 
infinitesimal  forms  in  the  image  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  the 
Divine  Love.  These  are  grouped  in  series  and  degrees,  ac- 
cording to  their  respective  qualities,  building  their  homes  on 
the  basis  of  new  and  elemental  earths,  respiring  in  the  airs  of 
new  atmospheres,  and  beholding  the  glory  of  God  through  the 
spaces  of  new  firmaments.  "  Holding  fast "  implies,  then,  a 
command,  a  power,  and  an  obligation :  a  command  of  God  to 
maintain  this  new  order  in  the  frame ;  a  power  from  God  to 
resist  all  ingressions  of  evil  that  menace  its  perpetuity ;  and  an 
obligation  to  God,  the  beneficent  Re-creator,  the  Indweller  in 
these  personal  paradises,  by  all  effort,  by  all  prayer,  by  all 
purification  and  determination,  to  maintain  this  new  created 
ground  against  the  enemy.  It  is  as  if  the  will  of  man  were 
iusphered  within  one  crystal  drop,  from  which  the  destructive 
animalcule  were  expelled,  and  their  places  supplied  by  myriads 
of  tiny  indwellers,  each  one  an  angel  in  essence,  and  concealing 
the  potencies  of  Heaven  in  the  least  minutenesses  of  space.  It 
is  as  if  that  drop,  disconnected  and  revolving  within  itself, 
were  sent  forth  into  the  ocean  made  up  of  multitudinous  hydra 
dwellers,  yet  with  power  to  initiate  the  beginnings  of  a  trans- 


SEC.  531—532.]         THE   APOGALYPSi:.  291 

formed  ocean,  whicli  should  be,  at  last,  as  that  sea  of  glass  and 
fire  before  the  throne  of  God,  whereon  stand  the  gathered 
angelhoods  crying,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  \"  It  is  as  if  the  will, 
having  power  from  God,  is  required  to  keep  that  crystalline 
di'op,  within  which  it  dwells,  free  from  the  invasions  of  the 
universal  ocean,  and  positive  and  dominant  over  all  its 
powers.  "  Till  I  come,^^  signifies,  a  stage  beyond,  during 
which  the  Lord  proceeds  to  the  i-emoval  of  the  old  natural 
soul. 

Chap.  ii.  26. — "  And  he  that  ovekcometh,  and  keepeth  my 
works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will  i  give  powee  over 
the  nations.-" 

532.  "  And  he  that  overcometh,"  signifies,  the  new  natural 
soul,  in  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  present  in  the  natural 
degree,  as  He  is  present  with  the  regenerate  man  in  the  inmost 
of  the  will  in  its  spiritual  degree.  It  also  signifies,  in  like 
manner,  His  presence  thence  in  the  new  natural  mind,  and  in 
the  new  natural  body.  For  full  expositions  concerning  the 
new  natural  soul,  see  index.  The  open  breathing  man,  the 
doer  of  God's  will,  being  thus  organically  rebuilt,  the  extenses 
of  his  frame,  through  all  of  their  degrees,  are  made  the  habi- 
tations of  living  motives  of  purity  and  obedience,  in  each  of 
which  singly,  and  in  all  of  which  collectively,  the  Lord  abides. 
"  And  keepeth  my  woi'ks,''  signifies,  the  obedience  of  the  new 
man  to  the  Lord  in  the  collective  motives  of  his  being.  "  Unto 
the  end,''  signifies,  completeness  in  that  obedience.  "  To  him 
will  I  give  power  over  the  nations,"  signifies,  that  through  tho 
organic  body  of  the  new  man,  complete  in  the  new  motives 
and  the  new  obedience,  the  Divine  forces  go  forth  and  combat 
against  whatsoever  is  opposed  to  this  new  order  throughout  the 
world.  One  especial  significance  is,  that  a  power  is  exerted  from 
the  Lord  through  this  channel,  against  the  old  or  evil  natural 
soul,  whether  in  its  collective  form  in  the  body  of  humanity, 
or  its  general  forms  in  the  bodies  of  nationalities,  or  in  its 
individual  form  in  the  bodies  of  individuals.  "  Over  the  na- 
tions," signifies,  again,  that  power  is  exerted,  first,  over  every 
type  and  class  of  men,  and  second,  over  every  class  and  type 
of  the  old  motives  in  men. 

T   2 


292  ABCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITY.  [cnAP.  it. 


Chap.  ii.  27. — "And  He  shall  kule  them  with  a  hod  of  ikon; 
as   the  vessels   of  a   potter  shall  they  be   broken  to 

SHIVERS  :    EVEN    AS    I    RECEIVED    OF    MY    FaTHER." 

533.  "  And  He  sliall  rule  tliera/^  signifies,  tlie  descent  of 
Divine  influxes  through  the  now  natural  soul  into  the  body  of 
the  new  natural  mind  and  nervous  essence,  and  into  all  the 
motives.  This  influx  penetrates  the  resistant  and  evil  natural 
souls  and  organisms  of  mankind,  and  wars  against  the  de- 
praved and  corrupt  motives,  self-engendered,  which  resist  the 
new  harmony.  Men  are  punished  who,  in  an  evil  selfliood, 
resist  the  new  breath,  its  motives,  truths,  and  works.  This  pu- 
nishment is  administered  through  the  new  natural  soul,  as  before 
said.  The  flames  of  the  Lord  which  go  out  through  it  pene- 
trate the  old  bodies  of  nerve  essence  pertaining  to  those  who 
oppose,  and  bind  and  fetter  the  organic  forms  of  the  dejDraved 
motives  which  dwell  within  them.  The  wrath  against  the 
kingdom  of  God  which  they  possess,  though  it  may  influence 
the  will  to  madness,  and  overspread  the  understanding  with 
the  cloudy  and  mephitic  darkness  of  pandemonium,  is  prevented 
in  the  execution  of  its  fell  purposes  against  the  Divine  order 
and  those  who  labour  for  its  blessed  increase  ;  the  body  of  the 
nerve  essence  being  fettered,  and  its  motives  in  their  aggre- 
gate forms  being  broken.  ''  As  the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall 
they  be  broken  to  shivers,"  signifies,  that  the  receptive  organs  of 
the  motives  in  the  old  and  depraved  nerve  bodies  and  essences 
of  men,  by  means  of  which  the  potential  influx  from  the  Hells 
reinforces  the  hateful  human  will  and  understanding,  and  invi- 
gorates them  to  war  against  the  ~  new  kingdom  of  our  Lord, 
are  ruptured  and  pierced,  that  the  infernal  influx  through  them 
may  be  no  more  potential.  ''Even  as  I  received  of  my  Fa- 
ther," signifies,  that  it  was  through  the  universal  natural  soul 
and  nerve  essence  which  our  Lord  possessed  in  His  humanity, 
and  which  contained  within  themselves  the  universal  series  of  all 
motives  of  good,  of  truth,  and  of  obedience,  that  the  old  cor- 
rupt natural  soul  and  nerve  essence  of  mankind,  with  their 
diabolical  and  infernal  motives,  first  being  invaded,  began  to  be 
subdued  during  the  period  of  His  incarnation. 


SEC.  533—536.]         TRE  APOCALYPSE.  293 

Chap,  ii,  28. — "  And  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star." 

534.  Upon  tlie  orb  Venus,  tlie  Lord  is  especially  inworlded 
in  a  manifested  form  through  the  natural  souls  of  all  its  peoples 
as  one  people,  and  all  its  men  as  one  man.  To  the  man  who 
inherits  into  the  new  natural  soul,  and  passes  upward  through 
a  succession  of  Divine  compliances,  the  inworldiug  of  the  Lord 
through  Venus  is  contiuued,  while  the  vibrations  in  and 
through  the  natural  soul  respond  to  the  harmonic  order  insti- 
tuted upon  that  lovely  planet.  He  becomes  an  epitome,  in  the 
families  of  His  motives,  of  the  industrial  civilization  which 
there  is  gloriously  manifest.  It  signifies,  beyond  this,  descents 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  of  our  Lord  through  the  universal  series 
of  solar,  aromal,  and  terrestrial  orbs,  where  He  is  inworlded 
through  the  world-souls  more  amply  still.  Thus  in  its  final 
sense  it  signifies  also,  a  complete  unition  of  the  body  of  the 
natural  soul  of  the  new  man  with  the  natural  soul  of  the  body 
of  the  harmonic  universe,  wherein  Jesus  Christ,  the  one  true 
and  living  God,  is  all  and  in  all. 

Chap.  ii.  29. — "  He   that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what 
THE  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches.''^ 

535.  In  the  month  of  July,  1860,  being  then  at  Bolton 
Abbey,  Yorkshire,  England,  my  senses  were  saluted  in  the 
morning  by  voices  in  the  Celestial  Heaven,  chanting  in  unison 
with  a  vast  majestic  movement  of  harmony.  A  single  white 
cloud  gathered  itself  above  the  secluded  retreat  which  I  then 
occupied,  as  if  it  were  the  home  of  thunder,  and  loud  respon- 
sive thunderings  proceeded  from  it,  filling  the  natural  air. 
This  signified  open  revelation  from  the  celestial  sense  of  the 
Word,  through  the  opening  of  respiration,  which  here  appears. 
The  world-soul  of  the  planet  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
Celestial  Heaven,  and  the  divine  song  which  then  descended, 
inflowing  into  her  ear,  bade  her  gather  together,  as  she 
wrought  through  the  body  of  the  planet,  the  atmospheric 
elements,  by  means  of  which  the  terrestrial  thunderings  pro- 
ceeded. I  was  given  this  illustration  that  it  might  be  intro- 
duced preceding  the  expositions  which  follow  here. 

53G.  As  are  the  degrees  in  the  Word,  so  are  the  degrees  in 
the  auditory  sense  of  man.       When  the  new  breath  descends 


291  ABCANA   OF  CHBISTIANITY.         [crap.  it. 

tlirougli  the  continuous  degrees  of  the  lungs,  provision  is 
made  for  the  opening  of  as  many  representative  degrees  in 
the  natural  auditory  sense.  As  are  the  qualities  of  objects, 
governed  by  their  states,  so  are  the  respirations  which  pro- 
ceed through  them.  All  things  breathe,  and  all  good  things 
breathe  in  harmony.  The  Hells  breathe  against  the  Heavens. 
The  hatred  born  in  the  centres  of  the  rebellious  will,  proceeds 
to  organize  itself  in  breaths,  which  in  turn  determine  the 
affections  of  the  body  and  the  thoughts  of  the  mind.  Hearing 
follows  respiration,  and  is  determined  by  it.  The  demons 
who  infest  the  auditory  organ  are  conquered  by  a  divine 
breath  going  forth  through  the  ear,  more  of  which  under  the 
head  of  "  Auric  Eespiration.'^  The  deadness  of  the  human 
ear,  like  the  partial  paralysis  of  the  eye-ball,  is  the  result  of 
sin  and  the  death  which  has  passed  upon  the  membrane 
through  sin.  The  Lord  through  the  new  natural  soul  puts 
forth  a  new  auditory  sense.  When  this  become  established, 
so  finely  and  so  exquisitively  is  it  wrought,  that  breathings 
become  audible  as  a  test  of  the  qualities  of  spirits  and  a 
revelation  of  human  states.  The  soft  love-breathings  of  the 
celestial  angel,  the  universal  love-respiration  of  the  Celestial 
Heaven  themselves  inflow,  and  the  new  harmony  which  thus 
unites  itself  with  respiration,  buoys  the  spirit  into  that  celestial 
atmosphere  where  the  sorrows  of  earth  are  forgotten,  and 
"  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  i-est.''^ 
537.  But  more  deep,  more  sonorous,  the  raptures  of  intelli- 
gence, in  which  respires  the  Spiritual  Heaven  as  a  grand 
organic  unity,  where  another  state  of  respiration  exists,  are 
audible.  The  song  is  in  the  Word.  It  unites  itself  with  the 
mental  vibrations,  and  is  the  key-note  to  lasting  knowledges. 
More  nearly  allied  to  the  sensitive  fulnesses  of  the  bodily 
frame  are  the  joy-notes  of  the  ultimate  angel,  as  he  breathes 
in  bliss  of  fine  sensation.  The  airs  and  breathings  of  the 
great  Ultimate  Heaven,  as  a  corporate  form  of  purest  pleasure, 
steal  deliciously  over  the  soothed  nerve,  and  laden  as  with 
spices  of  paradise,  diffuse  themselves  in  transports  which  are 
both  heard  and  felt.  This  is  continued  from  each  Heaven 
into  the  natural  soul  and  nerve  essence,  whence  it  becomes 
a  great  harmony,  to  which  responds  the  body  of  the  new  man. 


SEC.  537—539.]  THE   AFOCALTPSE.  295 

538.  '^VTiat  the  Spirit  saitli/^  signifies,  all  tliat  grand 
series  of  transports  and  loves  and  knowledges  wliicli  tlie  Lord 
imparts  through  the  new  ear.  "  Let  him  hear/^  signifies, 
that  the  man  of  the  Thyatiran  Church  enjoys  great  copious- 
ness and  fulness  of  hearing  through  the  new  auditory  sense. 
"  Saith,^^  signifies,  vocal  utterance.  It  may  be  said  here  that 
the  Lord  will  speak  to  the  new  man  through  each  new  opened 
degree.  "  Unto  the  churches,"  signifies,  a  revelation  from 
the  Word,  age  after  age,  unfolding  through  the  new  man, 
of  the  type  addressed  as  of  the  church  in  Thyatira.  To 
those  who  have  internally  perused  and  morally  embraced  the 
series  of  statements  which  this  chapter  contains,  the  Lord 
gives  me  this  message,  involved  in  and  deduced  from  its 
manifold  arcana. 

539.  It  is  not  to  make  men  wise  unto  speculation,  but  unto 
salvation,  that  the  rich  and  wonderful  treasures  herein  set 
forth  are  given.  The  truth  that  is  not  made  a  means  of 
embodying  the  Divine  life,  of  which  it  is  the  form,  in  corres- 
pondent human  ends,  however  cherished  in  the  intellect  and 
adopted  as  an  article  of  belief,  produces  induration  in  the 
cerebral  system  of  the  mind  of  the  spirit,  petrifaction  of  the 
fibres  of  the  heart,  congelation  in  its  blood,  till  coldness 
takes  the  place  of  heat,  and  the  body  becomes,  as  to  its 
internal,  aged,  deformed,  and  withered.  The  man  at  last 
resembles  a  human  boulder,  and  the  inmost  shape  of  its  intel- 
lectual organ  the  reptile  closed  within  a  mass  of  clay,  hardened 
into  rock  through  the  process  of  ages.  Let  those  close  this 
book,  who  are  not  willing,  in  whole-souled,  Avhole-bodied  con- 
secration, to  do  the  Lord^s  will,  as  far  as  consciously  and 
reasonably  evident.  To  the  class  who  receive  in  the  intellect 
alone  it  will  be  death  unto  death ;  but  life  unto  life  to  those 
who,  being  hearers,  are  also  doers  of  the  Word  of  God. 


CHAPTEJR    III. 

Sardis  a  fii'tli  church  or  people  in  the  New  Ilarmony. — Inversions  of  this 
human  type  throughout  Christendom. — Sardis  a  republican  common- 
wealth.— Seven  degrees  of  the  republican  series,  and  seven  pivotries. — 
Works  in  this  series  and  through  these  pivotries. — Attempts  of  men  in 
the  selfhood  to  organize  harmonies. — Dangers  after  open  respiration. — 
False  respiration. — Examinations  and  examining  angels. — Temptations 
and  repentances.  —  Inversions  of  the  type  Sardis:  ancient  Greeks; 
Parisians ;  Jesuits. — Modes  through  which  the  New  Harmony  is 
initiated.  —  Sixteenth  illustration.  —  The  understanding  in  Sardis. — 
Seventeenth  illustration. — Philadelphia  a  sixth  church  or  people. — Its 
heavenly-natural  perfections. — Arcana  of  sensation.— Ultimate  conditions 
of  harmonic  earths  initiated  by  this  type. — Pivotal  men  restoring 
paradisiacal  order. — The  structures  of  a  paradise. — Arcana  of  the  new 
terrestrial  paradise. — The  new  respiration  opened  through  the  mineral, 
vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms. — Communion  with  the  world-soul. — 
Strengths  of  this  type. — The  world-soul  an  agent  of  blessings  and 
judgments. — Abasements  of  the  ungodly  .through  these  judgments. — 
Seven  great  trials  to  befall  mankind. — Seven  trials  for  the  good. — Pillar- 
men. — The  New  Jerusalem  and  its  significances. — Social  science. — 
Modes  of  the  descent  of  the  New  Harmony. — The  solidarity  of  man. — 
The  law  of  the  series. — Eighteenth  illustration. — Punitive  system  in 
the  New  Harmony. — Laodicea  a  seventh  church  or  people. — The  great 
respiration.- — Miraculous  works. — New  forms  of  the  Word. — A  new 
creation  to  appear  in  Polynesia. — The  wounded  world-soul.  —  The 
natural  man  adapted  to  disorders,  the  new  man  to  harmonies. — Judg- 
ments for  the  Piomish,  Greek,  African,  Calvinistic,  Anglican,  Evangelical, 
Protestant,  and  Wcsleyan  Churches.- — Nineteenth,  tAventieth,  twenty- 
first,  and  twenty-second  illustrations. — Twofold  pulmonary  respiration 
and  vision ;  knowledges  thus  made  known. — Divine  commerce  from 
earth  to  earth.  —  Outpourings,  visitations,  and  repentances.  —  Seven 
degrees  of  new  perception,  hearing,  and  communion. — Pillar-men  ; 
journeyings,  ascensions,  thrones,  pivotal  centres. — Human  translations. 
—  God  in  the  harmonies  of  light  and  melodies  of  day. — New  races 
unfolding  through  the  seven  churches. — The  new  Divine  joy  and  com- 
munion therein. 


SEC.  540—541.]  THE   APOGALTPSE.  297 

Chap.  hi.  1. — "And  unto  the  angel  of  the  chukch  in  Saudis 
WRITE;  These  things  saith  He  that  hath  the  seven 
Spirits  op  God,  and  the  seven  stars  ;  I  know  thy  works, 
that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and  art  dead/' 
640.  The  "  cliurcli  in  Sardis/'  signifies,  tliat  type  of  men  of 
tlie  new  age  wliose  respiration  is  througli  the  SpirituaA  Heaven, 
continued  into  the  natural  lungs,  and  in  conjunction  with  the 
world-souls  of  terrestrial  orbs  under  the  influence  of  that 
Heaven.  These  may  be  called  intellectual-natural.  Through- 
out Christendom,  at  the  present  time,  the  vast  majority  of  its 
ruling  intellects  reveal  the  inversion  of  this  type;  they  are 
the  worst  men  in  the  whole  world,  because  possessed  of  the 
highest  advantages,  which  they  most  fearfully  abuse  ;  their 
,  judgment  is  at  hand.  "  Angel ''  signifies,  in  this  verse,  seven 
pivotal  servants,  or,  in  the  world's  phrase,  rulers,  constituting 
a  permanent  representative  series,  centering  the  new  harmony 
with  this  exalted  genius  of  men.  The  Republican  form  of 
government  is  most  consonant  with  its  attributes.  The  sub- 
stitution of  Republican  States  for  other  forms  of  order  will 
everywhere  mark  its  evolution,  and  indicate  its  sway.  That 
ideal  form,  which  is  in  part  wrought  out  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can Republic,  is  from  the  Sardis  of  the  Heavenly  World.  The 
law  of  the  series,  as  there  exemplified,  whose  successive  terms 
are  the  district,  town,  county,  state,  and  commonwealth,  needs 
but  two  additions  to  make  it  perfect,  the  greater  and  universal 
commonwealths  of  nations,  including  the  Republican  frater- 
nities of  all  the  globe. 

541.  The  Church  in  Sardis,  a  republican  commonwealth, 
whose  states  are  as  the  stars  in  the  firmament,  may  be  traced 
throughout  the  sidereal  expanses  where  the  orbs  revolve  under 
the  influence  of  the  Spiritual  Heaven.  The  seven  pivotal 
servants  of  the  Church  in  Sardis,  as  it,  through  this  form,  is 
manifest,  will  be  first,  the  chief  of  the  district,  second,  of  the 
town,  third  of  the  county,  fourth  of  the  state,  fifth  of  the  lesser 
republic,  sixth  the  greater  republic,  and  seventh  of  the  woi-ld 
republic.  Terrestrial  divisions  mark  out  in  space  the  corres- 
ponding divisions  in  the  spiritual  states  of  men.  The  district 
is  the   repubUc  iu  a  minute  form  ;  it  consists  in  the   ideal  of 


298  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  irr. 

not  more  than  fifty  families  occupying  contiguous  homesteads, 
or  the  unitary  pahice,  and  grouped  in  order  around  an  open 
respiring  man  of  tlie  genius  Avliich  we  now  consider.  The 
pivotal  chief  of  the  district  knows  the  wants  and  sorrows^  and 
is  the  federal  head  of  the  community.  His  special  function 
is  to  decide  all  tlie  questions  which  naturally  arise  between 
neighbours_,  to  see  that  heart-burnings  do  not  exist,  that  dis- 
cords do  not  creep  in,  that  nothing  opposed  to  internal  respira- 
tion and  the  laws  of  the  new  harmony  invades  the  territory. 
It  is  called  a  star  of  the  least  magnitude  when  thus  organized, 
and  the  least  of  the  seven  stars  in  the  Lord's  right  hand. 

542.  The  selection  of  the  pivotal  chief  of  the  republic  in  this 
least  form  is  through  the  suffrages  of  every  open  breathing 
conjugial  man.  The  suffrage  is  neither  of  the  male  separate 
from  the  female,  or  vice  versa,  but  of  the  two  in  one.  It  is  by 
consent  of  all,  because  where  open  respiration  thus  exists,  the 
one  divine  breath  communicates  the  same  electoral  inspiration 
to  all  who  respire  from  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  man  thus  chosen 
respires  in  sympathy  with  all  whom  he  represents.  The  Lord 
inspires  him  through  the  Word  to  preserve  order  in  righteous- 
ness. Society  falls  into  its  natural  classification  as  open 
breathing  is  extended,  as  follows  :  First,  the  series  of  infancy, 
which  includes  all  of  that  tender  age  who  require  the  imme- 
diate care  of  the  mother  and  the  nurse.-  Second,  the  series  of 
novices ;  this  includes  both  sexes  of  the  children  of  the  dis- 
trict, extending  to  the  close  of  the  period  preceding  puberty. 
It  is,  however,  subdi^dded.  The  third  series  is  the  virginal, 
consisting  of  youths  and  maidens  who  continue  in  it  till  mar- 
riage. The  fourth  series  is  parental,  including  husbands  and 
wives,  till  the  close  of  the  child-bearing  joeriod.  The  fifth 
series  includes  conjugial  pairs,  who  have  advanced  beyond 
this  era,  merging  into  the  sixth,  and  finally  succeeded  by  the 
seventh,  where  those  are  found  to  whom  the  Lord  gives  the 
capacity  of  parentage  for  the  aromal  child. 

543.  The  ease  with  which  communications  will  take  place 
from  one  portion  of  the  globe  to  another  in  the  new  age,  will 
serve,  among  others,  this  important  end.  The  youth,  prior  to 
marriage,  will  journey  forth  as  led  by  the  Spirit,  until  he  finds 
that  community  wherein  the  respiration  is  most  in  unison  with 


SEC.  542—544.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  299 

liis  own.  Into  it  lie  will  be  incorporated  by  the  union  of  the 
breaths^  and  there  become  permanently  established  with  his 
wife.  The  same  facilities  for  travel  will  serve  as  a  means  for 
closing  the  old  marriage  era  and  instituting  the  new.  Led  by 
internal  respiration^  the  youth  will  find  the  dear  maiden  through 
whom  God  shall  consummate  both  his  terrestrial  and  eternal 
bliss.  Upon  the  basis  of  the  family  of  the  district  rests  the 
superstructure  of  the  order  of  the  world.  Each  little  republic 
will  emulate^  from  motives  of  divine  charity,  the  loftiest  of  its 
neighbours.  The  tillage  of  the  garden,  of  the  farm,  together 
with  such  industrial  pursuits  as  are  practised  in  conjunction 
therewith,  will  afford  the  needful  modicum  of  labour  and  of 
physical  recreation  in  labour.  For  all,  individualism,  in  its 
heavenly  sense,  as  among  angels,  will  be  studiously  main- 
tained, and  an  exceeding  thi'ift  and  even  opulence  exhibit 
their  presence.  The  Lord  will  direct  the  sowing,  the  tillage, 
and  the  gathering  of  every  field  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  not  a 
vine  will  grow,  or  a  fruit  tree  be  set  forth  except  where,  and 
when,  and  as  He  willeth.  Thus  also  will  the  division  of  lands, 
the  arrangement  of  avenues  and  pathways  and  bridges  be 
directed.  The  temple  of  worship  will  be  constructed  according 
to  the  Divine  plan,  and  all  worship  be  conducted  from  within 
and  from  above. 

544.  The  rural  priest  of  genius  similar  to  those  in  whose 
midst  he  ministers,  will  exercise  his  function  by  divine  inspira- 
tion, administering  the  Gospel  in  the  perfect  unition  of  truth  and 
charity.  In  fine,  the  Heavens  will  rest  on  Earth  on  that  basis 
of  order,  and  the  two  co-act  and  inter-act  perpetually.  Where 
mechanical  employments  are  engaged  in,  the  Lord  will  direct 
to  the  most  minute  details;  nor  will  so  much  as  a  water  bucket 
be  constructed  but  through  the  breathing  life  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  which  gives  motion  to  the  hands.  In  this  manner 
Society  will  bloom  forth  with  a  celestial  fragrance  and  beauty, 
and  the  earth  become  the  nursery  of  the  skies.  To  provide  for 
all  its  members  a  liberal  education,  artistic,  industrial,  and 
scientific,  each  least  republic  will  conspire,  and  progress  in  the 
truths  of  science,  art,  or  industry  will  be  from  love,  "  The  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  holy  understanding.''^  In  the  new  order,  sinless,  exact,  uu- 


300  ABC  AN  A   OF  CIIBISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

swerving  obedience  to  tlie  Divine  breath  will  be  the  first  great 
lesson^  and  the  care  and  conduct  of  respiration  the  universal 
study.  The  artificial  will  be  succeeded  by  the  divine-natural, 
and  all  earthly  things  be  regarded  as  means  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  divine  ends  in  life.  The  key  note  of  life's  har- 
mony will  be  found  through  open  communion  with  the  Lord, 
and  prayer  serve  as  the  means  of  enlargement  in  the  organic 
measures  of  love,  wisdom,  and  power.  Herein  is  realized 
Arcadia,  and  fulfilled  Palestine. 

545.  None  will  be  able  to  live  in  a  social  district  of  this 
character  except  by  influx  from  the  Lord  through  open  breath- 
ing. Such  of  the  old  type  as  cannot  be  opened  into  it  will 
recede,  not  expelled  by  human  agencies,  but  led  away  by 
Providence.  A  peaceable  reconstruction  of  the  earth  by  these 
means  will  ensue.  Where  a  community  comes  thus  into  social 
order  in  its  new  form,  God  is  present  with  them  so  abundantly 
that  they  sing  for  joy,  even  in  their  sleep.  The  morning  dawns 
on  blessings,  and  the  day  closes  with  delights.  Instead  of  the 
thorn  of  scandal,  blooms  the  rose  of  sympathy,  and  it  is  for 
an  everlasting  sign  which  shall  not  be  cut  off.  Dead  to  the 
world's  inversions,  the  converse  of  the  grave  elders  is  concern- 
ing the  new  harmony  on  Earth  and  in  the  Heavens,  and  thence 
exhaustless  as  the  universe.  Monotony  is  avoided  by  the  in- 
dwelling operation  of  that  Divine  Spirit,  which  delights  in 
graceful  variety,  and,  while  all  are  free,  each  spirit  is  unfolded 
to  embody  on  Earth  the  special  quality  prefigured  in  its  hea- 
venly ideal.  Life  is  spent  as  consciously  in  the  presence  of 
God  as  it  was  by  the  first  parents  before  their  fall.  The  arms 
of  a  common  friendship  encircle  the  miniature  State.  All 
parents  are  one  in  the  sympathies  of  common  parentage ;  all 
children  are  one  in  the  sympathies  of  common  infancy.  Wher- 
ever a  pulse  beats,  or  bosom  thrills,  or  hand  labours,  it  is  from 
the  Lord. 

546.  AVhere  seven  of  these  afl&liated  districts  exist  in  the 
new  order  typified  by  Sardis,  they  constitute  the  township, 
thotigh  a  better  word  at  that  time  will  be  given.  In  the  centre 
of  the  town  is  a  sacerdotal  edifice,  devoted  to  education  in 
spiritual  mysteries.  The  seven  pivotal  chiefs  of  smaller  dis- 
tricts are  themselves  ministered  to  and  strengthened  in  gifts 


SEC.  545—547.]         TRE   APOCALTFSJE.  301 

for  their  office  by  the  social  elder,  whose  larger  circle  of  ad- 
ministratious  embraces  all  who  live  within  the  township's 
boundaries.  He  represents  them  in  congresses  of  the  State, 
holding  his  position  through  concert  of  electoral  inspirations 
as  before.  In  concert  with  him  appears  the  pivotal  teacher  of 
the  township,  and  the  priest  who  ministers  in  the  correspond- 
ino-  decree  of  the  hierarchate.  The  mansions  in  which  they 
reside  are  correspondentially  arranged  as  centres  of  the  ad- 
vanced holiness  of  which  they  are  the  types.  The  dense  con- 
gregation of  the  human  race  in  cities  ceases  when  the  new 
order  obtains  sway.  Every  conjugial  pair  resides  in  a  dwel- 
ling surrounded  by  the  pure  air,  singly  or  in  series.  The 
noisome  alley,  the  crowded  tenement  house  are  supplanted  by 
the  cottage  with  its  garden  and  its  field,  or  by  the  indus- 
trial palace.  To  breathe  noxious  odours,  unless  a  mission 
demands  it,  is  no  part  of  the  duty  exacted  of  the  new  olfactory 
sense ;  and  filth  is  looked  upon  as  an  earthly  symbol  of  the 
sordors  of  the  pit,  and  the  miasmatic  exhalation  of  corrupt 
hearts  decaying  through  self-love.  The  sacerdotal  edifices 
denoting  the  centre  of  the  township  are  occupied  respectively 
by  the  masters  of  arts,  of  sciences,  and  of  the  various  indus- 
tries. 

647.  Third  in  the  series,  the  county,  in  the  new  order,  glo- 
riously illustrates  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  man.  Here, 
smiling  in  the  midst  of  blooming  gardens,  where  the  genius 
of  the  new  age  delights  to  display  a  sumptuous  though  chas- 
tened taste,  appears  the  distributive  mart  for  eveiy  article  of 
need  which  the  industries  of  society  require.  The  distributor 
of  goods  serves  in  that  function,  as  before,  by  electoral  inspira- 
tion. He  typifies  the  genius  of  Commerce.  It  is  his  special 
employment  to  know  the  requirements  of  the  families  in  every 
disti'ict.  He  appoints  in  each  town  and  district  centre,  the 
man  whom  God  selects  to  act  as  a  distributive  agent.  The 
cost  of  every  article  of  merchandise  is  regulated  by  the  Divine, 
Voice,  nor  can  it  be  otherwise.  None  purchase  but  as  they 
are  moved  by  the  Spirit.  Where  God  governs  there  is  no 
waste.  The  chief  of  trade  in  a  county  receives  directly, 
or  through  subordinates  in  the  towns  and  districts,  the  pro- 
ducts   which  its    dwellers    annually   yield  for   the  supply   of 


302  AECANA    OF   CHRISTIAN  ITT.         [cuap.  tit. 

other  districts  than  thoir  own.  He  conducts  an  immense 
trade  through  Divine  direction,  not  endeavouring  to  enrich 
himself,  but  receiving  such  compensation  as  shall  best  afford 
him  means  to  accomplish  the  providential  ends.  The  hungry 
class  of  small  traders,  who  elbow  each  other  in  all  towns,  and 
subsist  precariously,  is  thus  suppressed.  Except  in  the  Divine 
order,  middle-men  are  no  more.  It  is  virtually  the  Lord  who 
distributes  and  who  interchanges  productions,  and  the  chief 
factor  is  simply  the  Lord^s  agent  working  out  His  will. 

548.  A  third  series  of  pivotal  rulers  and  instructors,  also 
in  the  hierarchate,  here  holds  its  seat.  Here  also  the  art 
palace  is  maintained,  of  which  perhaps  the  crystal  palace  at 
Sydenham  may  serve,  so  far  as  its  harmonic  features  are  con- 
cerned, as  a  tj'po.  Here  the  great  painter,  the  sculptor,  and 
musician,  the  chief  expounders  of  the  principles  of  art  and  in- 
dustry, maintain  their  place. 

549.  The  State  consists  of  such  counties  as  are  territorially 
situated  within  boundaries  most  convenient  for  purposes  of 
mutual  assistance.  A  fourth  order  of  pivotal  servants,  chosen 
as  before,  occupies  the  seat  of  its  chief  magistracy.  To  the 
State  belongs  the  duty  of  opening  and  maintaining  all  great 
public  works  which  connect  and  inter-unite  its  communities. 
This  is  its  principal  function.  It  establishes  and  maintains 
the  postal  system,  connecting  it  with  one  of  universal  expresses, 
and  another  for  the  transmission  of  all  bulky  packages.  The 
function  of  the  superintendence  of  all  modes  and  means  of 
transit,  in  fine,  all  that  in  the  subversive  order  pertains  to 
competitive  and  desultory  enterprise  in  these  departments  of 
public  use,  falls  entirely  to  the  pivotal  state  chief,  and  his  sub- 
ordinates. The  State  is  self-supporting,  and  maintained  from 
revenues  arising  from  the  duties  which  it  thus  joerforms. 

550.  Fifth,  the  Lesser  Republic  compinses  an  association  of 
States,  who  combine  to  maintain  uniformity  in  weights  and 
measures,  currencies,  postal  exchanges,  and  the  like,  and  to 
facilitate  intercourse  upon  a  grander  scale.  The  chief  of  the 
Lesser  Eepublic  is  especially  entrusted  with  high  and  grave  em- 
ployments connected  with  the  reclamation  of  vast  unproduc- 
tive districts  of  earth;  the  sending  forth  of  colonists,  the 
arrangement  of  colonies,  and  at  a  later  period  still,  the  compila- 


SEC.  548—551.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  303 

tion  and  redistribution  of  the  new  liarmonic  literature  of  other 
lands.  Through  his  series  he  makes  his  people  familiar  with 
whatever  of  benefit  to  the  race  is  transpiring  by  act,  or  revealed 
from  the  Word.  The  printing  press  and  its  collatei-al  inven- 
tions are  his  implements.  He  sits  in  the  centre  of  the  literature 
of  humanity.  His  means  of  communication  with  the  Republic 
which  unites  around  him,  are  books,  periodicals,  and  the  weekly 
and  diurnal  press.  The  crafts  of  printers,  engravers,  etchers, 
and  lithographers  principally  compose  the  more  immediate 
agents  of  his  sway.  The  literature  of  the  world  undergoes  a 
change  both  in  its  mode  of  production,  publication,  and  dissemi- 
nation. The  author  writes  in  the  series  of  the  divine  breaths, 
where,  when,  and  as  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  His  works 
are  sent  as  the  Spirit  commands  to  the  literary  chief  of  the  Re- 
public, who  in  the  Lord  commits  them  to  the  printer  and  to  the 
publisher,  each  of  these  being  the  servant  of  the  State.  The 
editions,  great  or  small,  are  regulated  by  the  Divine  command- 
ment, and  froni  a  centre  distributed,  either  through  the  univer- 
sal post,  or  to  depots  where  commerce  presides.  Thus,  at  a 
cost  of  but  trivial  moment,  whatever  works  are  produced 
through  the  Lord's  servants,  go  forth  from  the  Republican 
centres  of  administration,  reaching  every  cottage  throughout 
the  lands.  There  are  no  dissensions,  because  the  same  divine 
breath  is  omnipresent  in  all. 

55 L  The  Greater  Republic  embraces  each  its  continent  or 
archipelago,  including  all  lesser  republics  thereupon.  It  will, 
when  it  becomes  established,  maintain  the  lesser  forms  of 
civilization  dependent  from  it,  by  centering  the  universal 
system,  through  a  solar  ministry,  around  a  pivotal  arch- 
republican  head,  of  whom  this  may  be  stated  :  He  will  be  the 
centx'alization  of  the  genius  of  his  continent :  He  will  typify- 
in  one  intellect  its  manifold  genius,  and  respire  in  harmony 
with  the  pivotal  heads  of  each  lesser  republic,  wielding  power 
with  a  vast  sway  against  the  remaining  inversions  not  yet 
extirpated  from  the  globe :  He  will  be  the  ^ater-familias  of 
all,  mediating  between  them  and  supreme  Heaven;  ceutei-iug 
also  the  radiative  system  of  administration,  composed  of  hier- 
archal  men,  who  pass,  impregnated  with  higher  arts  and 
sciences  and  industries,  from  land  to  land,  initiating  mankind 


304  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.       [cmkv.  iir. 

inter  the  perpetually  asccuding  scries  of  divine  gifts.     Princi- 
pally tlic  arcli-repuLlic  will  serve  tliis  end. 

552.  Seventh  in  the  series  will  stand  the  Confederation  of 
the  Republics  of  the  System  of  the  World.  It  will  be  charged 
with  the  introduction  of  the  divine  and  universal  language, 
into  which,  after  a  period,  by  the  operation  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  all  partial  dialects  will  flow  and  disappear.  Its  capital 
will  also  be  the  crown  of  the  hierarchate,  and  that  holy  place 
w^here  divine  coramuuications  of  the  most  exalted  character 
will,  through  the  Word,  be  given,  to  lead  on  the  advanc- 
ing steps  of  universal  unity,  till  all  regenerate  men  shall 
breathe  as  one  man.  This  greatest  of  the  Republics  will  thus 
exert  its  sway.  Its  chief  will  be  the  highest  angel  of  the 
church  in  Sardis ;  the  amplest  burden-bearer  and  servant  of 
all.  Thus,  in  aerial  perspective,  we  behold  the  outlines  of  the 
prospective  Republic  of  Mankind,  arcana  concerning  which 
are  contained  within  these  words,  "  He  that  hath  the  seven 
Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven  stars.'" 

553.  The  principle  of  competitive  industry  in  the  American 
Republic  is  organized  into  working  forces  as  follows.  First, 
every  child  is  taught  that  the  highest  political  positions  are 
open  to  him,  and  are  attainable  through  the  trade  of  politics. 
Personal  ambition  is  thus  stimulated  from  the  earliest  years. 
Politics  is  made  a  trade ;  offices  being  .principally  monopolized 
by  persons  of  the  legal  profession,  the  bar  becomes  a  training- 
school  for  the  debates  of  public  assemblies  and  of  the  Sena- 
torial and  Representative  Chambers.  The  common  maxim  is, 
that  in  politics  there  can  be  nothing  wrong.  The  Jesuitical 
doctrine  that  "  the  end  justifies  the  means ''  is  silently  omni- 
present. Except  in  certain  great  crises,  when  public  senti- 
ment for  the  moment  becomes  incontrollable,  the  people  have 
no  real  voice  in  the  election  of  State  and  National  function- 
aries, A  secret  and  an  irresponsible  power  rules.  Political 
intriguers,  by  secret  combinations,  nominate  the  candidates, 
and  the  electors  at  the  polls  have  no  choice  but  between  two 
sets  of  rival  demagogues.  Here  is  a  system  which  demoralizes 
everything  with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  The  corruptions 
of  the  American  Republic  are  to  be  traced  to  this  source. 
Presidents   are    made   by   poHtical    tricksters   and   sharpers. 


SEC.  552—555.]  THE    APOCALYPSE.  305 

Society  is  corrupted  at  tlie  fountains  of  its  life.  Not  alone  are 
there  parties  against  parties^  but  parties  within  parties.  Those 
who  engage  in  the  strife  for  high  office  are  obliged^  as  a  rule, 
to  connive  at  practices  as  bad  as  those  of  highwaymen.  It  is 
the  merit  of  the  An ti- Slavery  party  that  it  has  not  been  in- 
volved in  these  infamies  ;  nevertheless,  had  it  been  sufficiently 
powerful  to  have  controlled  the  disposal  of  offices,  it  would 
have  sunken,  probably,  as  low. 

554.  However  intelligent,  virtuous,  and  well-meaning  may 
be  the  electors,  they  are  virtually  powerless ;  governments 
being  made  up  through  the  intrigues  of  the  demagogues. 
The  legislature  of  the  most  powerful  state  in  the  Union  always 
has  a  large  minority,  and  frequently  a  majority,  both  in  its 
Higher  and  Lower  House  of  Eepresentatives,  whose  votes 
are  purchased  with  money.  The  highest  body,  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  has  repeatedly  been  bribed  by  enormous 
sums,  both  by  agents  of  foreign  governments  and  by  com- 
binations of  capitalists.  Thus  the  British  government  pro- 
cured the  passage  of  the  "  Reciprocity  Treaty  "  with  Canada, 
and  thus  agents  of  the  Stock  Exchange  saddled  upon  the 
nation  the  debt  of  the  former  Republic  of  Texas.  It  is  only 
by  seeming  accident,  that  is,  by  the  secret  interposition  of 
Providence,  that  the  Presidential  chair  can  be  filled  by  a  vir- 
tuous, honest  man. 

555.  Politics  being  thus  made  a  trade,  a  trickery,  a  specu- 
lation, the  public  morals  are  officially  debased.  The  title 
^'  Honourable  "  implies,  as  a  rule,  that  he  who  bears  it  has 
made  himself  dishonourable.  The  sentiment  of  honour  is 
almost  extinguished.  The  name  of  ^^  gentleman  ^^  has  lost  its 
primitive  significance.  In  order  that  a  government  may  be 
permanent,  its  dignitaries  must  be  men  of  personal  honour ; 
otherwise,  instead  of  being  the  conservators,  they  are  the 
assassins  of  the  State.  Candidates  are  nominated  in  the 
caucuses  through  a  system  of  organized  corruption.  Here  is 
a  Praetorian  guard  of  attorneys  and  their  adherents,  who  sell, 
every  four  years,  the  republican  purple  to  the  highest  bidder. 
It  has  been  said  that  every  ecclesiastical  corporation  entrusts 
its  financial  afiairs  to  the  most  depraved  of  its  members,  as  of 
old  Judas  was  the  treasurer  of  the  apostles;  but  it  is  more 

u 


306  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

true  that,  wherever  the  disposal  of  public  patronage  is  to  bo 
obtained  through  political  combinations,  the  shrewdest  trick- 
sters of  the  nation  will  combine  for  that  end.  Good  men  feel 
themselves  obliged,  for  the  sake  of  the  accomplishment  of 
humane  ends  in  legislation,  to  ally  themselves  with  the  grand- 
masters of  the  art  of  corruption,  the  professors  of  the  art  of 
legislative  bribery ;  and  eloquent  men,  with  a  passion  for  high 
office,  are  willing  to  be  their  proteges.  Names  that  will  shine 
on  the  pages  of  history,  as  among  the  best  and  noblest  of 
their  time,  revolve  as  double  stars  in  this  unnatural  juxta- 
position with  others  whose  light  was  darkness  and  whose 
influence  worse  than  any  pestilence.  Politics  implies  the 
close  alliance  of  the  virtuous  with  the  vile. 

556.  For  the  stability  of  a  nation  the  first  thing  necessary  is 
a  fixed  and  stable  executive ;  but  in  America  this  is  impossible. 
It  is  notorious  that  one  cabinet  in  Europe,  the  Russian/  accom- 
plishes its  master  strokes  of  diplomacy  by  the  secret  bribery 
of  the  cabinet  ministers  and  other  great  officials  of  foreign 
powers.  Wlien  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  won  his 
brief  eminence  through  unholy  and  secret  intrigues,  and  when 
the  officers  of  his  Cabinet  are  selected  from  a  class  of  hungry 
attorneys,  accustomed  all  their  days  for  a  fee  to  argue  any  case, 
however  infamous ;  when,  in  addition  to  this,  as  is  too  often 
hinted  at,  they  betray  their  own  clients  for  a  bribe  from  the 
opposite  party;  and  when,  furthermore,  they  have  added  a 
long  experience  in  political  corruption  to  the  arts  of  their 
own  special  profession,  what  security  has  the  nation  ?  What 
reasonable  hope  that  its  foreign  afiairs  will  be  conducted  with 
a  due  regard  to  its  own  rights  and  interests  ?  When  a  large 
class  of  the  senators  and  representatives  of  either  dominant 
party  are  connected  with  the  former  as  allies  and  accomplices ; 
when,  furthermore,  they  have  the  control  of  the  political  press, 
which  reaches  every  household  in  the  land,  and  have  but  to 
issue  their  edicts  in  order  to  cause  an  almost  universal  mis- 
leading of  public  opinion,  is  it  not  evident  at  a  glance  that 
here  is  a.  system  which  contains  within  itself  the  seeds  of 
national  and  social  ruin  ?  It  may  be  answered  that  one  corrupt 
party  neutralises  the  venom  of  the  opposite.  But  when  did  ever 
two  diseases  make  one  health,  or  two  dangers  one  safety,  or 


SEC.  556—558.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  307 

two  depravities  one  morality  ?  This  is  what  Christian  nations 
come  to  by  submitting  their  affairs  to  the  dictation  of  un- 
christian men.  The  principle  of  selfish  competition  here  has 
full  sway.  The  faith  that  Democracy  is  the  only  government 
to  which  a  nation  can  accede,  maintaining  at  the  same  time  its 
liberties  and  its  self-respect,  is  so  fixed  and  made  a  pai't  of 
public  sentiment  that  there  is  no  human  solution  of  the  difii- 
culty.  If  ordinary  laws  have  their  course,  the  final  result 
must  be  the  dissolution  of  the  Republic,  through  weakness 
at  its  centre,  and  corruptions  at  its  sources  of  power.  But 
democracy  is  a  transition  phase  through  which  man  passes,  and 
in  its  very  weakness  and  changeableness  are  Divine  oppor- 
tunities. 

557.  If  the  politics  of  a  nation  are  depraved,  all  other 
depravities  follow  by  an  inevitable  course.  If  the  compe- 
titive gambling  spirit  rules  in  the  election  of  officers  and  the 
administration  of  affairs,  it  debauches  everything,  high  and 
low;  poisons  everywhere,  reaching  rich  and  poor.  It  sows 
universal  dissensions  ;  it  gives  rise  to  universal  iniquities.  The 
judiciary  is  dependent  on  the  executive  in  some  instances. 
Where  this  is  the  case,  the  interests  of  party  require  that  un- 
scrupulous partisans  shall  be  invested  with  the  ermine.  Thus 
the  chief-justice  of  the  United  States,  during  most  critical 
epochs,  was  Roger  B.  Taney,  a  man  who,  to  the  unscrupulous - 
ness  and  wickedness  of  Jeffreys,  added  the  bigotry  and  plausi- 
bility of  a  Romanist  devotee.  The  competitive  system  moulds 
the  Judiciary  in  its  own  image  and  likeness.  Again,  when,  as 
in  other  cases,  the  Judiciary  is  elective,  its  candidates  are  the 
nominees  of  the  caucus,  and  that  conclave  being  inevitably 
corrupt,  it  selects  its  creatures.  Wliere  public  sentiment  is 
debased,  electing,  as  it  does,  the  bench,  it  must  be  reflected 
and  represented  there.  Hence  we  have  the  loathsome  spec- 
tacle of  courts,  where  the  client,  if  he  would  win  his  case,  must 
entrust  it  to  the  secret  legal  partner  of  the  judge,  who  decides 
it.  Hence  we  have  the  spectacle,  still  more  loathsome,  of  judges, 
elected  by  combinations  among  the  dissolute  classes,  for  the 
protection  of  the  interests  of  vice. 

558.  Where  the  influx  of  immigration  is  immense,  public 
sentiment  is   debased  to    the    level  of  the  half   pauperised 

u  2 


308  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.        [chap.  iir. 

hordes  that  Europe  vomits  upon  the  shores  of  the  Western 
Continent.  The  triumphs  that  Great  Britain  could  not  win  by 
the  armies  of  Howe,  Burgoyne,  and  Cornwallis,  the  destruction 
of  the  integrity  of  American  institutio^s,  she  is  reaching  now, 
through  the  offscouring  of  her  emigrants,  and  chiefly  through 
the  Roman  Catholic  Celt.  In  districts  and  states  where  great 
parties  are  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  the  priest  holds  the  balance 
of  power.  Hence,  though  the  Roman  Church  is  a  small 
minority,  nineteen-twentieths  of  the  public  donations  to  reli- 
gious institutions  are  made,  in  the  state  of  New  York,  to  those 
of  this  persuasion.  In  a  Democracy  it  is  not  quality  that 
governs,  not  rectitude,  not  intelligence;  but  quantity,  brute 
force.  It  is  the  best  system,  if  the  quantities  represent  Divine 
qualities;  but  the  worst  system,  when  the  reverse  is  the 
case.  Now,  prior  to  the  late  rebellion,  politics  in  America  were 
controlled  by  a  combination  of  the  dissolute  and  ignorant  and 
foreign  and  priest-ridden  classes  at  the  North,  organized  into 
a  unity  by  party  managers,  with  the  despotic,  slave-trading, 
slave-breeding,  and  slave-working  classes  at  the  South ;  these 
holding  at  their  beck  also  enormous  bodies  of  ignorant,  de- 
based, and  almost  pauperised  white  citizens.  This  alhance 
being  providentially  broken  for  the  time,  through  its  own  dis- 
sensions, a  minority  candidate,  representing  the  moral  convic- 
tions of  the  people,  was  enabled  to  rise,  as  by  an  oversight,  to  the 
Presidential  chair ;  this,  too,  made  it  possible  to  overthrow  the 
system  of  slavery  and  to  institute  the  beginnings  of  justice. 

559.  But  the  elements  are  all  rife  for  a  new  combination. 
"  One  woe  is  past,  but  another  woe  cometh  quickly.''^  The 
utmost  that  can  be  hoped  is,  that  the  Divine  Providence  will 
prevent  the  dissolution  of  the  Republic,  till  in  some  part  of  it 
a  regenerate  and  enlightened  intelligence  may  numerically 
preponderate.  It  is  also  a  providential  fact  that,  owing  to  the 
results  of  the  recent  conflict,  men  of  the  New  Life  can,  with- 
out complicity  with  evil,  exercise  the  duties  and  the  rights  of 
citizenship.  This  is  a  great  thing;  it  is  possible  now  for  a 
man  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  without  renouncing 
his  citizenship  in  Heaven ;  hence,  too,  it  is  possible  to  embody 
the  principles  of  the  latter,  while  complying  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  former.     In  fact,  no  man  can  fully  fulfil  what  is 


SEC.  559—561.]  TSE   APOCALYPSE.  309 

implied  in  allegiance  to  tlie  American  Constitution,  without 
becoming  the  recipient  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  embodying  it, 
through  open  respiration,  in  the  affections  of  purity  and  the 
works  of  solidarity. 

560.  The  merit  of  that  Constitution  is  this,  that  it  recog- 
nises the  will  of  majorities  as  the  supreme  law.  This  would 
be  a  demerit  were  majorities  to  remain  ignorant,  depraved, 
and  at  the  mercy  of  party  leaders;  but  there  are  powers 
operant  from  the  Heavens  that  are  preparing  the  way  for  the 
opening  of  Christ's  people  in  large  bodies ;  and  for  the  descent 
of  the  principles  of  the  new  creation  into  organic  forces,  which 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  through  human  faithfulness,  will  give  the 
balance  of  power  to  the  men  of  the  New  Life,  and  eventually 
establish  a  Divine  Eepublic,  through  this  very  principle,  that 
the  supreme  law  depends  upon  the  will  of  majorities.  Again, 
the  reorganization  of  the  district  according  to  the  principles 
herein  set  forthi  as  those  by  which  Church  Sardis  executes  the 
Divine  will,  no  less  than  the  concurrent  principles  alluded  to 
in  what  is  wi'itten  concerning  Church  Thyatu-a,  must  lead  to 
political  reorganization,  thorough  and  effectual,  so  far  as  their 
sway  extends ;  and  all  this  in  strict  conformity  with  republican 
law. 

561 .  But  the  American  mind  is  such,  that  it  believes  in  prin- 
ciples when  they  are  fulfilled  in  their  demonstrations.  It  will 
beheve  in  the  reorganized  district  or  township  or  county  when 
it  sees  them.  It  will  believe  in  the  New  Life,  when  it  beholds 
it  lived  out  in  shining  and  illustrious  solidarities.  It  will  be- 
lieve in  the  pohtical  necessity  of  its  principles,  when  it  sees 
that  they  inevitably  reconstruct  all  institutions,  the  adminis- 
tration of  which  pertains  to  the  districts  or  communities  where 
such  tenets  hold  personal  sway.  There  is  an  intense  yearning 
after  that  ideal  which  was  prefigured  in  the  aspirations  of  the 
Puritan  and  in  the  expectations  of  the  patriotic  founders  of 
the  nation.  There  is  a  fixed  belief  that  the  Old  World  is 
dead ;  that  salvation  cannot  come  by  the  transfer  or  the  re- 
vival of  any  of  its  institutions.  There  is  a  solemn,  awful 
instinct,  that  God  has  reserved  the  Western  Continent,  and 
peopled  it  with  the  most  strenuous  enterprise  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,  for  some  majestic  and  transcendent  manifestation. 


310  ABCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITT.       [chap.  in. 


It  was  this  that  made  myriads  eager  for  Liberalism  in  Reli- 
gion, and  that  led  to  the  incipient  struggles  of  Socialism.  A 
better  ideal  glances  perpetually  before  the  eye.  An  accursed 
politics;  the  growth  of  slavery;  the"  failure  of  social  enter- 
prises; the  terrible  revelations  of  Spiritism;  the  pagan 
spirit,  the  subtle  sphere,  the  allm-ing  appeals  of  Ritualism, 
have  deadened  down  these  aspirations,  quenched  these  hopes, 
obscured  this  dawning,  but  only  for  a  time. 

562.  There  is  an  agony  that  may  be  felt  in  the  more 
quickened  elements  of  the  common  mind.  The  heart  of 
America  nurses  a  noble  dissatisfaction ;  it  is  like  the  instinct 
of  a  plant,  that,  rooted  in  a  desert,  creeps  slowly  by  its  roots 
towards  the  distant  water-spring.  Great  combinations,  both 
natm-al  and  infernal-natural,  have  temporarily  blinded  the 
intelligence  of  the  yearning  and  aspiring  classes.  They 
lavished  life  and  treasure  profusely  in  the  religious  movement 
of  the  Unitarians ;  but  Unitarianism  cannot  grapple  with  the 
vital  problems  of  humanity,  and,  as  a  popular  movement,  it  is 
dead.  They  have  been  for  the  last  ten  years  exploring  the 
occult  facts  of  Spiritism  ;  but  Spiritism,  unfolding  and  embody- 
ing no  divine  ideals,  in  its  turn  is  losing  its  fascination  with 
all  men  of  nobler  quality.  They  have  turned,  in  their  dis- 
heartenment,  to  English  Ritualism,  to  Romanism,  and  even  to 
oriental  Buddhism ;  but  this  is  a  reaction  from  weakness  which 
is  but  temporary,  and  from  the  momentary  eclipse  of  hopes 
which  are  as  inextinguishable  as  the  sun.  The  motto  of 
Church  Sardis  is,  "America  for  Christ,  and  Christ  for  America." 
It  holds  the  key  of  that  door  through  which  He  shall  descend 
by  the  inaugm^ation  of  Republican  harmonies. 

563.  It  is  a  common  reproach,  that  the  Americans,  as  a 
people,  are  devoted  to  mere  money  making.  Unfavourable 
comparisons  are  drawn  between  the  gentlemen  of  the  Republic 
and  the  opulent  in  Europe,  and  especially  in  Great  Britain ; 
but  these  comparisons  involve  questions  of  great  moment, 
only  to  be  satisfactorily  answered  in  the  light  of  the  New 
Life.  What  has  the  gentleman  of  Europe  attained  to  with  all 
his  golden  leisures  ?  What  is  there  to  show  for  them  beside 
palaces,  decorated  landscapes,  galleries  of  art,  sumptuousness 
in  the  decorations  of  religion,  a  certain  nobility  and  grace  of 


SEC.  562—564.]         THE  APOCALTFSE.  311 

manner^  an  addition  to  records  of  travel  and  adventure  ?  Had 
these  leisurely  gentlemen,  whose  wealth  is  fourfold, — that  of 
time,  of  station,  and  the  culture  and  opulence  of  ages, — ^had 
these  gentlemen,  placed  on  these  heights  of  vantage  above  the 
world,  made  any  real  discoveries,  on  the  earthly  ground  or 
.  in  the  heavenly  horizon,  the  mind  of  the  Western  continent 
would  have  been  prompt  to  take  advantage  of  them.  But 
they  have  neither  discerned  a  better  ideal  nor  wrought  out  a 
better  actual.  A  Judsean  Prince,  the  flower  of  all  gentleman- 
hood,  unfolded  certain  principles.  Alas,  the  gentlemen  of 
Europe  have  lost  sight  of  that  cardinal  idea  of  the  nature  of 
a  gentleman  that  He  both  taught  and  embodied.  Has  the 
gentleman  of  Europe  a  higher  idea  of  chastity  than  the 
peasant,  than  the  philosophical  pagan  ?  Does  he  live  for  the 
race,  or  live  upon  the  race  ? 

564.  The  intellect  of  America  tends  to  organization  and 
enterprise ;  it  is  not  content  with  the  conservation  of  privi- 
leges. It  was  an  American  gentleman  who  invented  the 
steamship,  and  another  instituted  the  vast  system  of  canal 
navigation ;  others  are  the  founders  of  great  universities. 
The  munificence  and  magnificence  of  hereditary  opulence  are 
thus  outdone  and  outshone  by  those  who  founded  their  own 
fortunes.  The  instinct  of  the  gentleman  of  Em^ope  is  for  the 
exquisite,  the  recherche ;  he  is  a  man  of  good  taste.  The  instinct 
of  the  gentleman  of  America  is  for  the  stupendous ;  he  is  a 
man  of  action.  Contact  with  Europe  weakens  him;  the  old 
world  is  his  snare.  England  is  his  Rome,  and  France  his 
Capua.  He  is  a  half-quickened  Israelite,  whom  these  old 
tribes  in  his  borders  beguile  into  idolatry.  There  is  a  finer 
instinct  of  gentlemanhood  and  ladyhood  among  the  childi^en  of 
the  Puritans  in  the  new  world  than  among  the  descendants  of 
cavaliers  in  the  old  world.  The  heart  has  not  quite  been 
stifled ;  the  equal  origin  of  humanity  has  not  been  quite  for- 
gotten. If  there  is,  in  a  high  sense,  neither  church  nor  state, 
still  there  are  but  few  reproductions  of  that  organized  exclu- 
sion and  obstruction  which  are  the  church  and  state  of  Europe. 
There  are  no  queens  or  duchesses,  but  there  are  fewer  female 
mendicants  and  prostitutes.'  There  are  no  kings  or  dukes,  but 
there  are  fewer  flunkies  and  sycophants.     The  tui"f  has  nut  be- 


312  ABCANA    OF   CIIRISTIANITT.       [chap.  iit. 

come  a  great  national  institution  tliat  swallows  np  the  fortunes 
of  princely  houses.  There  is  an  aristocracy  of  cornland  and 
woodland,  of  shipping  and  petroleum,  that  often  exhibits  the 
vulgar  attributes  o^  W\g  vonvemix  rlchc ;  but  there  is  no  aris- 
tocracy of  ducal  houses  descended  from  the  concubines  of 
kings. 

565.  From  one  point  of  view  America  may  be  poorer  for 
what  she  has  not  borrowed  from  Europe;  but  from  another 
she  is  richer  by  what  she  has  not  borrowed  thence.  The  dead 
weights  are  removed  or  removable.  She  cannot  stand  in  the 
class  inertia  of  ages.  The  key  to  her  future  is  not  buried  in 
ancestral  graves ;  she  holds  it  in  her  own  hands.  Europe 
subsists  by  the  statu  quo  that  is  the  result  of  universal  com- 
promise ;  but,  unless  America  can  hold  her  ground  by  the  or- 
ganization of  principle,  she  must  perish.  There  is  in  America 
an  instinct  which  teaches  that,  after  all,  there  is  something 
excessively  ungentlemanly  and  unladylike  with  large  classes 
of  Europeans  who  especially  come  under  these  appellations ;  a 
feeling  that  it  is  not  gentlemanly  to  surround  one's  self  with  the 
luxurious  privacies  of  a  great  estate,  while  the  farm  tenants 
are  huddled  together  in  hovels  not  fit  for  dogs.  There  is,  in 
fine,  though  unorganized  and  most  inadequately  expressed, 
that  sentiment  which  a  recent  writer  has  called,  "  the  enthu- 
siasm of  humanity.^'  Those  highly  placed  cannot  patronize 
the  people,  for  they  are  of  the  people.  The  people  stands  for 
the  class,  and  popular  privileges  for  class  privileges.  Here  is 
a  vineyard  of  unripe  grapes,  but,  as  they  ripen,  and  One  comes 
predicted  of  old  to  tread  the  wine  press,  the  new  vintage 
cannot  be  put  in  the  dried  leathern  skins  of  European  or 
Asiatic  institutions. 

566.  The  abolition  of  the  laws  of  entail  and  primogeniture 
has  effected  this  good ;  even  the  most  obtuse  must  see  that  no 
family  can  remain  in  an  elevated  position  for  a  long  time  with- 
out a  correspondent  elevation  of  the  people.  The  aboHtion  of 
church  establishments  has  done  this  good,  that  it  has  forced 
men  to  the  conviction  that  organized  Religion,  and  a  learned 
and  dignified  class  of  religious  teachers,  can  only  be  maintained 
permanently  by  means  of  an  educated  religiousness  and  in- 
tegrity in  the  people.     The  abolition  of  hereditary  rule  has 


SEC.  565—567.]        THE   AFOOALYPSU.  313 

wrouglit  this  good  also,  that  it  has  made  men  see  that  wise 
and  virtuous  government  must  disappear,  unless  perpetually 
re-born  from  the  mind  and  heart  of  a  fraternal  and  noble 
people.  In  a  word,  the  artificial  is  swept  away,  and  America 
rests  for  perpetuity  upon  the  permanence  of  the  ideal  in  the 
actual.  This  is  not  perpetual  boyhood,  safe  by  reason  of  guar- 
dianships and  restrictions ;  it  is  manhood,  with  its  unlimited 
dangers,  but  also  with  its  unlimited  possibilities.  The  gentle- 
man of  Europe  finds  no  class  in  America  identical  with  his  class 
at  home ;  here  is  not  a  nation  finished,  but  a  nation  just  begun. 
567.  It  is  this  Spirit  from  God,  embodied  in  the  life  and 
works  especially  of  this  type  of  men  called  Sardis,  though  in 
connection  with  men  of  all  the  other  types,  that,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  workVs  history,  makes  good  society  a  fact  of 
morals  and  of  spirituality,  weds  visible  beauty  to  invisible 
goodness,  and  introduces  into  the  common  way  of  living  all 
that  is  humanly  valuable  in  that  special  existence  that  has 
heretofore  been  inclosed  in  palaces.  It  weds  nobility  of 
manner  to  nobility  of  reason  and  of  heart.  As  God  draws 
round  the  wholesome,  faithful  earth  the  starred  mantle  of  the 
heavens,  so,  in  this  new  life.  He  invests  manly  and  womanly 
faithfulness  with  dignity  and  with  magnificence.  Here  the 
duchess  is  not  in  her  thought  at  an  infinite  remove  from  the 
washer- woman,  for  she,  who  in  the  morning  is  engaged  in  the 
beautiful  works  of  the  laundry,  may  be  found  in  the  evening 
with  the  manners  of  an  empress,  dispensing  an  imperial 
hospitality  to  her  guests,  who  are  themselves  nobler  than 
earthly  nobles  and  kinglier  than  mortal  kings.  Here  is  Christ 
on  His  industrial  throne,  surrounded  by  the  resplendent  and 
adoring  ranks  of  industrial  hierarchies  and  nobilities  and 
chivalries.  Chatsworth  is  base  and  vulgar,  surrounded  by  its 
eleven  miles  of  park  and  with  its  imperial  conservatories,  for 
it  ministers  but  to  unregenerate  and  unholy  family  ambitions. 
That  one  man  may  have  a  Chatsworth,  how  many  must  be 
landless,  till  the  mould  is  heaped  over  them  !  But  here  is 
Chatsworth,  here  is  Versailles,  yea,  more  than  either,  not  as 
nourishing  the  pride,  or  concealing  the  loneliness  and  deso- 
lation of  some  solitary  man.  Here  are  royalties  of  surrounding 
that  are  the  reflections  of  the  royalties  of  person  and  of  state. 


311.  ARCANA   OF  CUBISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

5G8.  It  would  be  a  great  mercy  to  youths  like  the  Prince  of 
Wales  aud  his  courtly  associates,  if  they  could  be  taught  some 
honest  trade,  and  learn  to  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  the 
brow;  if  they  could  be  instructed ' in  the  value  of  time,  the 
excellence  of  laboui*,  the  sweetness  and  the  dignity  of  service ; 
more  especially  if  they  could  be  placed  under  the  control  of 
noble  industrial  womenj  and  made  to  feel,  in  their  own  expe- 
rience, just  how  much  life  and  strength  a  sewing  girl  puts 
forth  to  earn  her  scanty  pittance.  England  commits  a  great 
wrong  in  her  educational  system,  both  to  her  princes  and 
nobles,  by  shutting  them  out  of  the  knowledge  of  the  common 
lot.  Perhaps  the  illustrious  lady  of  the  land  would  throw  her 
gracious  affections  more  fully  into  needful,  industrial  reforms 
for  women;  perhaps  she  would  lay  by  less  for  her  children 
by  blood,  and  more  for  her  children  by  office,  the  daughters  of 
the  people,  if  for  one  six  months  of  her  girlhood  she  had  been 
practically  instructed  in  the  burdens  of  their  inevitable  life. 
How  potent  would  be  her  example  for  reform,  if  she  had  en- 
throned herself  in  the  midst  of  the  womanhood  of  the  isle  ! 
Surely  her  loneliness  in  widowhood  would  be  less  lonely, 
nay,  full  of  all  divine  and  all  celestial  companionships,  if  the 
thronging  benedictions  of  this  great  sisterhood  of  misery, 
whom  she  found  ready  to  perish,  and  whom  she  cradled  in  her 
very  heart  and  ministered  to  with  faithful  hands,  distilled 
themselves  around  her  as  the  morning  and  the  evening 
sacrifice. 

569.  Isolation  from  divine  use  is  starvation.  Isolated  indivi- 
duals are  starved  individuals ;  isolated  classes  starved  classes. 
Those  who  isolate  themselves  from  any  human  care,  isolate 
themselves  with  its  correspondent  human  curse.  Those  who 
identify  themselves  with  a  misery,  identify  themselves  also 
with  its  recompense.  The  system  of  solidarity,  led  forth 
through  the  new  creation,  is  a  system  of  recompenses.  Here 
for  the  first  time  there  is  fulness  of  bread  for  all  bread-earners, 
but  also  fulness  of  life  for  all  life-givers.  In  this  respect  it 
is  entirely  the  opposite  of  the  present  American  system,  whose 
competitive  industries  develop  every  sj)ecies  of  present  and 
prospective  starvation,  thi'ough  their  second  great  specialty, 
selfish  competitive  toil. 


SEC.  568—571.]         THE   APOCALYFSi:.  315 

670.  Competition  is  to  Society  wliat  lust  is  to  the  heart :  it 
organises  robberies.  The  competitive  pursuits  make  men  at 
once  smooth  and  callous  on  the  side  that  is  manward,  and 
specious  and  obdurate  on  the  side  that  is  Godward.  Where 
competition  runs  its  inevitable  rounds  it  makes  personal  reli- 
gion almost  impossible.  Schiller  sings  that  "  the  immortals 
never  come  alone.''^  The  virtues  are  social;  the  inspirations 
that  visit  the  human  heart  are  never  solitary.  Men  are  affected 
for  weal  or  woe  by  the  attitudes  in  which  they  stand  towards 
their  fellows.  Men  are  made  morose  or  genial_,  iron-hearted 
or  golden-heartedj  suspicious  or  confiding^  in  a  large  degree, 
by  means  of  the  relations  in  which  they  stand  to  others.  Child- 
hood and  youth  are  imitative,  and  take  upon  themselves  the 
peculiarities  of  the  society  whose  habits  and  customs  encompass 
them.  The  savage  becomes  a  hunter  of  animals ;  he  learns  to 
waylay,  to  entrap,  to  outmatch  animal  cunning  by  his  instinc- 
tive sagacity ;  he  becomes  wise  in  the  ways  of  the  brute  crea- 
tm'es  who  are  to  serve  as  his  prey.  But  the  civilizee  is  the 
hunter  of  men;  he  is  taught  by  the  customs  and  habits  of 
society  that  there  are  myriad  modes  by  which,  without  en- 
dangering the  soul  or  violating  civil  law  or  custom,  to  aggran- 
dize himself  at  the  expense  of  his  fellow-man.  Where  society 
is  organised  selfishness,  religion  will  be,  for  the  most  part, 
deified  selfishness. 

571.  Both  the  virtues  and  the  vices  move  in  series;  if  the 
sefish  principle  is  enthroned  in  trade,  it  will  also  be  enthroned 
in  marriage,  in  the  family,  everywhere.  Competitive  Society 
is  a  baser  savageism.  So  long  as  men  are  hordes  they  will  be 
ruled  by  robbers.  Competitive  Society  places  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  unscrupulous.  The  attorney,  the 
merchant,  the  money-lender  become  the  rulers  of  the  hamlet, 
and  set  the  fashion,  not  alone  in  style,  but  in  life.  The  clergy- 
man, himself  the  member  of  a  competitive  body,  and  engaged 
in  competitive  efforts  against  rival  sects,  is  controlled  in  his 
ministrations  by  the  views  of  men  who  have  grown  sharp  and 
hard  in  competitive  pursuits.  The  exemplars  of  the  village  are 
its  successful  men.  Each  rising  generation  is  trained  by  the 
example  of  the  one  before  it.  A  slave-holding  system  imbues 
the  young  with  the  spiint  of  slave-holding,  and  a  competitive 


316  ABCANA    OF   CnBISTIANITY.        [chap.  iir. 

system  imbues  the  young  with  the  competitive  spirit.  It  un- 
settles the  pure  and  just  economies  of  God ;  it  destroys,  in  the 
mental  system,  and  also  in  the  moral  system,  the  planes  for  co- 
operation ;  and,  according  to  its  success  in  this,  the  planes  for 
regeneration.  It  is  not  confined  to  one  sex  ;  it  makes  woman 
cold  and  hard  and  narrow,  no  less  than  man.  He  who  repre- 
sents Mammon  to  his  fellow,  cannot  represent  the  Lord  to  his 
wife  and  in  his  family.  Competition  and  scortation  are  well-nigh 
inseparable.  No  man  can  have  golden  bridals  who  does  not  in- 
sphere  his  life  in  golden  rectitudes  and  charities.  Mammon  is 
one  of  the  series  with  Moloch  and  Belial.  Unselfishness  can 
never  work  its  will  through  the  public  sentiment,  unless  em- 
bodied in  representative  institutions. 

572.  Church  Sardis,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  churches, 
rescues  industry  from  its  defilements  and  degradations.  There 
is  something  downright  and  terrible  in  the  genius  of  this 
people  ;  their  modes  of  dealing  with  the  evils  that  result  from 
competition,  like  their  modes  of  thought,  are  sharp  and  incisive. 
They  do  more  than  organize  industry  on  the  grounds  of  right- 
eousness ;  they  diffuse  a  spirit  of  burning  hatred  against  com- 
petitive unrighteousness.  They  put  into  contempt  a  grandem' 
and  a  divinity,  till  men  learn  to  loathe  the  hireling  attorney  and 
the  grasping  middle-man,  with  a  keener  detestation  than  is  now 
the  meed  of  pii*ates.  Here  is  the  germ  of  a  new  public  senti- 
ment, against  which  in  its  development  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  the  base  to  lift  their  heads.  These  righteous  hatreds 
proceed  through  respiration.  Society  has  always  been  a  net, 
whose  meshes  have  caught  the  small  criminals  without  holding 
the  great  ones ;  but  New  Society  will  be  a  net  that  will  close 
the  more  firmly  against  criminals  in  the  proportion  of  the 
magnitude  of  their  crimes. 

573.  It  will  be  demonstrated  in  this  church  that  men  are 
made  sharp  and  keen,  and  exact  and  uncompromising,  and 
prudent  and  practical,  in  the  precise  ratio  of  their  disinte- 
restedness. It  will  be  as  impossible  for  the  men  of  the  world 
to  outwit  or  overreach  them,  as  it  is  for  men  to  outwit  or 
overreach  the  laws  of  gravitation  or  electricity.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  spirit  and  power  of  Sardis  into  politics,  juris- 
prudence, law,  medicine,  divinity,  trade,  wHl  be  more  terrible 


SEC.  572—575.]         THE   JPOOALYFSK  317 

to  tlie  worldly^  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits^  than  can  well  bo 
stated;  for  tlie  man  of  Sardis  takes  delight  in  developing  a 
sphere  that  tears  to  pieces  whatever  is  selfish  and  competitive. 
The  man  of  this  type  will  be  terrible  in  presence  to  his  oppo- 
nents^ for  there  will  proceed  through  him  a  divine  overbearing 
of  ill.  Bach  will  move  among  men  as  a  last  judgment  in  first 
principles.  They  will  grind  and  reduce  opposition  as  mill- 
stones grind  corn.  Such  is  the  sharp  and  penetrative  quality 
of  the  breaths  of  the  man  of  this  type^  that  few  will  care  to  meet 
them  more  than  once  in  opposition.  It  must  also  be  men- 
tioned here  that  these  respirations  have  a  singular  quality ; 
proceeding  forth  against  the  adverse  and  the  wicked^  they 
interpenetrate  their  bodies  between  all  the  joints  of  the  bones ; 
they  afilict  opposers  with  a  cold  trembling;  they  take  out 
courage  from  the  heart ;  they  produce,  if  opposition  is  con- 
tinued,  paralysis,  loss  of  memory,  and  a  general  impotence 
of  the  frame. 

574.  Among  the  special  industrial  tendencies  which  this 
respiration  leads  forth,  are  to  be  mentioned,  spinning,  weaving, 
and  whatever  relates  to  the  spindle  and  loom ;  the  manufac- 
ture of  iron  in  all  its  branches;  building  of  ships  and  locomo- 
tives. Men  of  the  Thyatiran  Church  tend  more  to  the  finer 
works,  to  indoor  and  outdoor  architecture,  to  the  manufacture 
of  such  things  as  belong  to  domestic  use  and  comfort;  to 
whatever  pertains  to  wood,  to  the  planting  and  care  of  forests, 
to  the  working  of  them  up  into  every  conceivable  form  of 
useful  elegance.  The  two  churches,  Thyatira  and  Sardis,  are 
very  closely  connected ;  and  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the  first 
to  proceed  beyond  a  few  families,  without  the  second  begin- 
ning to  unfold  in  close  unity.  As  the  thunder  follows  the 
lightning,  the  reverberating  force  of  Sardis  will  be  felt  almost 
as  soon  as  the  electric  flash  of  Thyatira. 

575.  The  competitive  principle  takes  a  third  and  very 
odious  form  in  the  organization  of  the  class  of  military  leaders 
and  instructors.  Soldiers,  as  a  class,  are  unscrupulous,  godless 
men.  The  genius  of  Sardis  is  intensely  military.  Its  emblem 
is  the  unsheathed  sword.  Here  is  power  that  inures  to  the 
salvation  of  the  new  order  which  God  creates.  So  long  a3 
evil  exists  there  must  always  be  a  national  appeal  to  ultimate 


318  ARCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITT.         [cux^.  iit. 

force.  Tlie  nation  that  can  maintain  the  largest  and  most 
powerful  army,  without  the  impoverishing  or  lessening  of 
resources,  must  inevitably  hold  its  own  against  the  world. 
Now  Sardis  is  invincible,  because  here  is  the  power  which 
organizes  pm'ity  into  social  and  industrial  solidarity,  and 
again  inspheres  these  in  the  complex  network  of  political 
unity,  and  again  secures  this  against  invasion  by  organizing 
its  affiliated  groups  into  one  universal  soldiery.  As  in  Thyatira 
it  is  found  that  respiration  cannot  be  maintained  without 
solidarity,  so  in  Sardis  it  will  be  discovered  that  respiration 
cannot  be  maintained  without  skilful  and  consummate  soldier- 
ship. It  will  be  as  impossible  to  live  morally  without  martial 
exercises  as  it  is  to  live  without  habitual  devotion.  No  series 
in  a  district  can  maintain  respiration,  unless  every  adult  in  his 
vigour  is  a  member  of  the  battalion,  and  every  youth  a  cadet. 
The  very  decorations  of  each  place  of  religious  worship  will  bo 
the  gleaming  arms,  the  breech-loaders,  the  swords,  and  the 
bayonets. 

576.  These  men  will  all  move  with  a  martial  step,  and  carry 
the  bearing  of  the  soldier  into  every  industry.  This  respiration 
will  make  them  deep-chested  as  so  many  harmonic  lions.  Ten 
thousand  such,  gathered  upon  a  field  day,  will  all  respire  in 
unison,  and  perform  martial  evolutions  as  the  Spirit  of  God 
enunciates  through  pivotal  chiefs  of  arms.  Here  are  cavalry 
mounted  on  open  breathing  horses ;  here  infantry  whose  sight 
along  the  barrel  of  the  rifle  is  like  the  sure  glance  of  God ;  here 
artillerymen,  whose  guns  are  unlimbered  at  the  command 
of  the  Infinite,  and  in  whose  deadly  missiles  proceed  the 
powers  of  Jehovah.  Here  reigns  the  Christ  who  "  comes 
in  righteousness  to  make  war,"  and  who  is  revealed  in  His 
advent  as  the  Messiah  of  hosts.  Here  is  the  military  system 
that  almost  prevents  the  necessity  of  war,  by  organizing  a 
people  into  invincibility.  All  this  is  j)refigured  in  the  genius 
of  Sardis ;  her  assemblies  are  encompassed  by  a  cloud  of  fii'e. 
It  is  impossible  too  much  to  admire  the  benignity  and  wisdom 
of  that  providence  of  God,  which  orders  that  men  shall  be 
encompassed  with  the  strength  of  lions,  in  the  ratio  in  which 
they  proceed  into  the  innocency  of  lambs.  As  the  Lamb 
of  God  was  also  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  so  His  new 


SEC.  576—578.]         TRB   APOCALYPSE.  319 

people  with  purity  shall  put  on  power.  Those  who  pass  the 
ordeals  of  judgment  shall  be  entrusted  with  the  power  of 
judgment,  since  this  is  the  judgment  era  of  the  political  world. 

577.  "I  know  thy  works/'  signifies,  the  attempts  of  un- 
breathing  men,  from  motives  of  an  illuminated  self-love,  to 
establish  on  earth,  permanent,  but  inversive  types  of  the 
heavenly  republic.  "  That  thou  hast  a  name,"  signifies,  the 
existence  of  such  self-based,  self- formed  Plutocracies  for  a 
time.  '^  That  thou  livest  and  art  dead,"  signifies,  their  reality 
in  appearance  ;  their  unreality  in  spirit ;  being  grounded  not 
in  obedience  to  the  Lord,  but  on  considerations  of  temporal 
policy.  The  transition  ages  of  the  world,  wherein  the  face  of 
mankind  undergoes  a  change,  and  old  institutions,  being  out- 
worn, gradually  decay  and  perish,  are  invariably  marked  by 
these  pecuharities  :  First,  by  copious  outpourings  of  the  Di- 
vine Spirit;  which  are  met,  as  they  begin  to  penetrate  the 
human  will  and  understanding,  by  correspondential  and  resist- 
ant uprisings  from  the  collective  will-force  and  intellectual 
power  of  universal  evil ;  every  nearer  approach  of  the  Spirit  of 
God-Christ  by  a  nearer  approach  of  Lucifer,  enthroned  amidst 
the  embattled  potencies  of  the  demons  of  the  orb  that  fell. 
Second,  the  general  and  particular  life  of  the  universal  Heavens 
moving  responsively  in  obedience  to  this  inflowing  of  God, 
approximates  nearer  to  mankind ;  but,  in  the  same  ratio,  the 
Hells,  which  are  respectively- in  the  inversions  of  the  celestial, 
spiritual,  and  ultimate  heavenly  life,  being  roused  up  to  mad- 
ness, resist  with  subtlety  and  great  power.  Third,  the  world- 
soul  of  our  orb,  being  quickened  through  conspiration  with 
world-souls  and  universe-souls,  more  copiously  distils  her  ele- 
ments into  the  body  of  humanity ;  but  the  natural  soul  of 
humanity  being  evil,  and  being  subtly  wrought  upon  through 
the  natural  potencies  discreted  from  the  demons  of  the  lost 
orb,  endeavours  to  invert  this  universal  influx,  and  to  inaugu- 
rate through  the  revived  strengths  new  epochs  and  dynasties 
of  crime. 

578.  A  fourth  influx  from  God  at  such  eras  is  through  the 
Word  as  foUows  :  thi'ough  the  forms  of  the  universal  Word 
throughout  the  Heavens  and  the  harmonic  orbs  of  the  universe ; 
through  the  forms  of  the  most  ancient,  and  ancient  Words  of 


320  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 


tlic  Golden  and  Silver  Ages,  which,  altliougli  tlioy  have  dis- 
appeared as  written  documents,  still  exist  in  vast  series  of 
representative  structures,  preserved  within  the  internal  space 
and  fine  elements  of  our  planetary  sphere.  '  The  written  Word 
also  serves  to  the  same  end,  and  amidst  the  mass  of  those  who 
ignorantly  venerate  the  mere  letter,  some  begin  to  be  found 
who  discern  that  there  is  a  divine  spirit  both  in  the  meanings 
and  influences  of  the  Holy  Volume.  As  this  takes  place,  the 
Anti-word,  that  is  the  universal  series  of  the  organic  forms  of 
falsity,  and  thence  of  evil,  inscribed  within  the  minds,  first  of 
the  demons  of  the  lost  orb,  second  of  the  demons  of  our  plane- 
tary Hells,  third  of  the  abandoned  of  the  lower  Earth  of  Spirits, 
and  fourth  of  the  depraved,  oppressive,  and  idolatrous  among 
mankind,  both  in  generals  and  to  all  particulars,  is  marshaled 
as  an  intellectual  and  elemental  host,  meeting  ideas  with 
ideas,  and  principles  with  principles,  and  also  potencies  with 
potencies. 

579.  There  have  been  two  great  crises  in  our  world's  his- 
tory before  the  present.  In  the  first,  known  as  the  deluge, 
the  old  open  respiration  passed  away,  and  a  large  portion  of 
mankind  was  destroyed.  For  particulars  see  Nos.  51,  52, 
also  "  Heavenly  Mysteries,"  index.  Men,  at  this  time,  sank 
down  into  corporeal  nature,  and  were  unable  any  more  to 
think,  feel,  respire,  or  act  according  .to  the  primitive  modes. 
The  second  great  crisis  was  at  the  Incarnation ;  but  this  was 
a  crisis  in  first  principles,  which  did  not  so  obviously  affect  the 
natural  organism  of  the  race.  The  third  crisis  is  now  come  ; 
it  involves,  as  it  proceeds,  the  gradual  return  of  man's  open 
respiration,  and  with  it  the  reinstatement  of  the  good  in  the 
normal  order  of  the  universe.  The  Divine  Man  comes  a  second 
time  to  be  glorified  in  those  who  believe,  and  to  establish 
seven  new  resplendent  nationalities  or  harmonic  types  of 
humanity.  For  this  crisis  all  things  stand  prepared.  Open 
respiration  has  begun  both  with  a  seed  in  Christendom  and 
among  the  nations  beyond  its  boundary.  Our  Lord  is  making 
Himself  directly  known  and  felt  as  the  One  Divine  Man,  the 
Father  and  Eedeemer,  directly  in  communion  with  the  human 
creature.  In  Asia  the  Words  of  the  ancient  Golden  and 
Silver  Ages  are  opened  and  pour  forth  elements  of  Divine 


SEC.  579—581.]         THE   APOCALIPSU.  321 

vitality ;  while  in  Europe  tlie  corresponclential  verbal  unfold- 
ings  have  begun^  as  here  written.  That  embattled  army  of 
angels  who  were  martyrs,  heroes,  and  confessors  of  that  great 
race  whose  inverted  members  followed  Lucifer  in  the  apos- 
tasy, is  now  present  through  open  respiration,  beginning  to 
inpour  its  martial  qualities  into  those  who  are  the  firstborn 
of  God's  new  people,  resisting  unto  blood,  striving  against 
sin.  At  the  same  time,  and  in  conjunction,  the  angels  of  our 
planet's  Heaven,  the  men  of  the  harmonic  orbs,  the  world- 
souls  and  impersonal  races,  marshal  their  forces  for  the  dread 
and  final  conflict,  making  themselves  felt  and  known  through 
the  new  respirations,  the  new  motives,  the  new  knowledges, 
and  the  new  purities. 

580.  But  while  this  takes  place,  depravity  having  the  van- 
tage ground  in  the  organized  forms  of  old  disorders,  in 
ignorance,  in  misconception,  in  falsity,  and  vice,  all  serving  as 
forms  for  the  action  of  the  infernals,  works  with  a  universal 
conspiration  against  the  right.  Christendom,  though  warned, 
has  prepared  itself  through  its  lusts  for  the  greatest  of  calami- 
ties. At  this  point  a  law  requires  to  be  set  forth,  which  will 
demonstrate  both  the  cause  of  these  calamities  and  their  cer- 
tainty. It  is  written,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness."  In  the  youth  of  men  and  the  youth  of 
nations,before  thoughts  are  crystallized  into  systems,  and  desires 
organized  into  institutions,  in  a  word,  before  the  great  embody- 
ing process  begins,  men  must  see  to  it  that  the  affections  are 
right  which  they  would  thus  crystallise  into  ideas,  and  that  the 
desires  are  good  which  they  would  embody  in  institutions.  If 
the  afTections  and  desires  are  good,  a  good  mental  and  social 
organism  will  result ;  if  they  are  evil,  the  consequences  will  be 
evil  dogmas  and  evil  institutions.  If  doctrines  and  institutions 
are  good,  they  become  vast  organic  forms,  extensions,  as  it 
were,  of  the  will  and  understanding  into  the  continents  of  earth, 
whereby  organs  are  fashioned,  by  means  of  which  righteous- 
ness and  salvation  multiply  thoir  powers.  If  those  desires  and 
affections  are  evil,  organisms  are  created,  which  when  once 
fixed  are  vast  complications  of  infernal  mechanism,  that  en- 
close the  greater  part  of  the  people,  rule  them,  and  ruin  them. 

581.  Man,  individual,  entering  on  a  career  whose  beginnings 

X 


322  ARCANA   OF  CnRISTIANlTY.        [chap.  hi. 

aro  not  determined  by  regeneration,  involves  himself  in  tlie 
complications  of  an  evil  life.  Man,  national,  does  the  same 
thing ;  the  nation  working  from  principles  opposed  to  regene- 
ration, organizes  institutions  that  impede  regeneration.  These 
institutions  ramify  and  solidify;  they  become  pest-houses, 
prison-houses,  and,  finally,  death-houses.  But  this  is  not  all. 
Men  are  bom  into  these  houses  according  to  their  classes,  and 
aro  so  stamped  from  infancy  with  the  falsehood,  curse,  and 
doom,  that  the  dogmas  and  institutions  work  for  ruin  with  an 
accelerative  power.  They  corrupt  the  popular  good;  they  sub- 
vert the  popular  truth;  they  uncreate  what  is  primarily  just,  and 
re-create  it  in  the  image  of  their  own  evil ;  they  throw  man 
out  of  equilibrium ;  they  generate  permanent  classes  of  men 
whose  interests,  and,  consequently,  affections,  are  conservative 
both  of  dogmas  and  institutions,  irrespective  of  righteousness. 
So  long  as  depravity  is  not  organized  into  system,  its  power  is 
comparatively  small ;  but  after  it  is  made  system,  it  becomes  a 
force :  a  world  as  it  were,  whose  soils  bring  forth  poisonous 
fruits  that  men  must  eat,  poisonous  waters  that  men  must 
drink,  poisonous  airs  that  men  must  breathe.  They  floor  the 
chambers  of  the  world  with  death,  and  curtain  them  with  con- 
tamination. Thus  evil  are  they  in  their  strength ;  but  as  they 
begin  to  perish  they  yield  up  their  stored  corruptions,  and  pre- 
pare mankind  for  lower  and  baser  eras.- 

582.  Now  Christendom,  prior  to  the  age  of  change  which 
began  with  the  renaissance,  was  an  organized  pest-house. 
First,  the  church  was  slavery  ;  second,  the  state  was  tyranny ; 
third,  marriage  was  scortation.  These  three,  slavery,  tyranny, 
scortation,  were  the  ruling  powers.  The  ecclesiastics  had 
generated  a  sacerdotal  system,  which,  wherever  opposing  reli- 
gious parties  did  not  prevent  it  from  maturing  its  fruits, 
brought  forth  every  species  of  lust  and  crime.  Is  this  a  sunken 
orb,  and  are  these  seeming  men  mere  devils  ?  The  light  of 
discovery  illuminates  the  horizon.  The  Portuguese  open  the 
orient;  the  Spaniards  open  the  Occident.  Behold  the  conse- 
quences !  the  lust  of  power,  of  riches,  of  proselytism,  and  of 
scortation,  a  fourfold  river  of  crime,  gush  forth  from  Christen- 
dom. The  Latin,  the  Anglo-Saxon  races  rival  each  other, 
though   nominally  Christians;   not  in   preaching  the    Gospel 


SEC.  582—583.]  TJSE   APOCALYPSE.  323 

tkrougliout  this  new  world,  with  the  signs  that  follow  those 
who  believe ;  not  in  carrying  salvation  to  the  earth's  extremi- 
ties. What  do  they  carry  ?  Poisons_,  which  the  body  of  the 
pagan  was  too  pure  to  generate,  but  which  have  made  Christen- 
dom writhe  with  anguish;  poisons  resulting  from  scortatory 
lust,  instilled  throughout  these  youthful,  teachable,  receptive 
people,  cause  theta  to  rot  down  by  myriads,  like  sheep  when 
plague  has  entered  the  sheep-fold.  It  was  from  the  bosom  of 
Christendom  that  this  plague  went  forth  that  decimates  the 
so-called  pagan  world.  Where  are  the  nations  of  the  West 
Indies  and  of  South  America  ?  Extirpated  by  the  Spaniard. 
Where  are  the  races  of  North  America  ?  Extirpated  by  the 
Anglo-Saxon.  Wherever  there  is  on  the  earth  a  people  which 
the  so-called  Christian  nations  have  not  defiled  by  lust,  and 
polluted  by  the  diseases  of  lust,  and  enslaved  for  dominion,  and 
extirpated  by  slavery,  and  robbed  for  riches,  they  are  now  en- 
deavouring to.,  exploit  it  by  a  civilized  system,  which  is  the 
scientific  combination  and  final  Consequence  of  them  all.  Let 
us  for  once,  if  only  for  once,  as  Christian  nations  by  profession, 
hear  the  truth  about  ourselves.  Where  have  been  om*  churches  ? 
Those  who  did  these  things  were  the  laity  of  all  the  churches, 
often  aided  on  by  the  clergy  of  the  churches,  who  du-ectly  or 
indirectly  fattened  on  the  spoil. 

583.  We  have  made  base  institutions,  and  in  turn  the  in- 
stitutions have  made  us  and  our  children  base.  All  things 
end  by  time.  The  lusts  of  scortation,  of  dominion,  and  of 
riches  have  become  so  powerful  that  the  multitudes  are  no 
longer  willing  that  the  monopoly  of  these  things  shall  be  held 
by  a  few.  This  is  the  meaning  of  democracy  on  its  evil  side. 
A  more  copious  life  begins  to  descend  from  God,  flowing  into 
Christendom.  That  life  flowing  into  such  channels  as  we  have 
provided  for  it  in  the  mind,  but  controlled  by  our  evil  lusts, 
stimulates  and  excites  the'cupidities.  The  sunbeam  is  not  evil, 
though  it  quickens  the  growth  of  all  plants  of  poison,  though 
it  revives  the  asp  and  invigorates  the  anaconda.  Power,  gold, 
and  lust,  for  these  men  crave,  and  know  that  they  are  now 
attainable  in  larger  measures  by  the  applications  of  thought  to 
matter.  So  rolls  on  the  age  of  invention.  Selfishness  once 
robbed  by  instinct,  and  destroyed  nations  in  sheer  wantonness. 

X  2 


324  ARCANA    OF   GIIBISTIANITY.        [chap.  iir. 

Selfislmess  now  robs  by  calculation  and  preserves  nations  as 
wealtb-producing  factors.  The  diplomacy  of  Christendom  is 
falsehood,  treachery,  and  every  odious  crime.  The  ruling  love 
of  Christendom  is  to  monopolize  all  wealth  and  power ;  it  has 
taken  the  influx  of  God,  and  retained  that  which  could  stimulate 
its  inventive  and  scientific  faculties ;  it  has  inverted  that  which 
it  could  invert  to  nourish  its  depravities,  and  all  the  rest  it 
has  trampled  on  as  pearls  are  trodden  by  the  swine. 

584.  The  summer  of  1867  is  marked  by  two  events.  At 
Paris,  the  world^s  fete  in  honour  of  the  triumphs  and  achieve- 
ments of  civilization.  This  is  presided  over  by  a  wretch  who 
a  few  years  since  was  known  but  as  a  vile  and  dissolute 
adventurer.  Now,  the  eldest  son  of  the  church,  emperor,  as 
he  is  styled,  by  the  will  of  God  and  the  people,  he  rules  as 
the  representative  and  embodiment  of  murder  and  adultery. 
Here  is  the  industrial  heart  of  Christendom;  here  are  the 
results  of  all  its  civilization";  and  this  the  nearest  approach 
which  the  world  has  yet  seen  to  the  morals  and  manners  of 
the  lost  orb.  Here  the  richest  wealth  of  earth  and  life  is 
lavished  on  the  demi  monde  ;  it  is  the  triumph  of  organized 
selfishness ;  it  shows  what  the  nations  can  accomplish 
through  the  prostitution  of  the  intellect  and  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  heart.  Many  good  men  toil  in  the  service 
of  the  system,  but  the  system,  -  being  selfish,  is  ne- 
cessarily base.  The  second  event  is  celebrated  in  Eome. 
Surrounded  by  the  desolate  Campagna,  where  brigands  and 
murderers  are  papal  devotees,  the  sacred  city  lifts  itself  upon 
the  seven  hills,  the  metropolis  of  the  Christian  religion,  as 
understood  by  the  great  pivotal  sect,  the  mother  of  all  sects. 
Here  twenty-five  thousand  ecclesiastics,  gathered  from  all  the 
world,  celebrate  the  eighteen  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
martyrdom  of  a  fisherman,  the  disciple  of  One  whose  whole  life 
was  a  warfare  in  behalf  of  simple  human  justice  and  charity. 
These  men  in  their  unity  claim  to  be  His  living  successors,  to 
embody  His  spirit,  to  be  empowered  with  His  forces,  and  to 
carry  out  His  pm-pose. 

585.  Here  are  Mexican  bishops  from  a  land  where  the  dis- 
ciples are  now  engaged  in  pillaging  and  murdering  each  other. 
Here  are  Cuban  and  South  American  bishops  and  priests,  who 


SEC.  584—586.]         THE  APOGALYPSJE.  325 

at  home  are  gamblers  and  public  libertines,  and  wliose  dis- 
ciples of  tlie  most  respectable  class  subsist  tkrougli  wrongs 
inflicted  on  their  slaves.  Here  are  Americans,  their  brethren 
in  office,  who,  as  a  body,  represent  the  vilest  elements  of  the 
western  civilization,  the  ignorant  classes,  the  drunken  classes, 
and  who  have  been  accomplices  in  that  great  conspiracy  which 
aimed  at  making  human  bondage  eternal.  Here  are  Spanish 
prelates,  representing  a  land  whose  monarch  is  at  once  one  of 
the  most  bigoted  of  religionists  and  notorious  of  harlots.  Here 
is  the  church  which  boasts  that  it  is  infallible  and  cannot  err, 
inflexible  and  cannot  change,  perpetual  and  cannot  die.  Here 
is  the  church  which  has  just  decreed  that  a  Jewish  peasant  girl 
shall  be  worshipped  as  the  Queen  of  Heaven.  Here  is  a  church 
which  claims  that  it  has  power  to  forgive  sins,  to  work  mira- 
cles, to  lift  men  into  Heaven,  and  to  cast  them  into  Hell.  Here 
we  see  enthroned  the  twin  demons,  slavery  and  superstition. 
Here,  doubtless,  are  kind  and  amiable,  as  well  as  conscientious 
men ;  but  deliided,  conceited,  and  pledged  to  the  service  of  an 
organization,  which,  if  its  claims  are  not  all  infinitely  and  ab- 
solutely true,  is  a  stupendous  blasphemy.  Yet  here  those 
anomalous  things,  half  farce,  half  profanation,  which  ritualists 
call  divine  services,  are  celebrated  with  such  pomp  and  magni- 
ficence as  is  hardly  known  by  man.  These  shall  go  forth  re- 
freshed by  communion  with  each  other,  and  compass  land  and 
sea  not  to  make  one,  but  millions  of  proselytes ;  to  found,  if 
possible,  in  the  west  a  new  Italy,  or  in  the  east  a  new  Spain. 
By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  The  very  goodness  of 
these  who  are  good  serves  as  a  snare ;  these  are  the  decoys 
who  lead  the  wild  birds  of  the  air  into  the  net  of  the  fowler. 

586.  Meanwhile  a  third  representative  event  is  taking  place, 
of  finishing  significance.  The  first  islands  discovered,  whose 
hospitable  and  kind-hearted  inhabitants  welcomed  the  Euro- 
pean, were  the  Bahamas  and  the  Antilles.  The  gentlest,  the 
most  loving  and  unsuspecting  of  all  western  races,  in  three 
generations  they  were  literally  annihilated;  their  exquisite 
paradises  became  the  prey  of  the  slave-trader,  the  buccaneer, 
and  the  pirate,  and  over  all  flaunted  the  cross.  The  circle  of 
conquest  is  now  complete.  The  Western  Powers  have  extorted 
from  the  Government  of  the  only  nation  whose  doors  had  been 


320  ABCANA   OF  CIIBISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

closed  against  tlicm,  tlie  last  concessions.  The  cup  of  bitterness 
first  pressed  to  the  lips  of  the  West  Indian,  is  poured  with  all 
its  loathsome  dregs  into  the  bosom  of  Japan.  Christendom 
may  pause  here ;  it  has  reached  the  'Ultima  Thule.  There  are 
no  more  opulent  races  to  impoverish,  no  more  unsuspecting 
races  to  deceive,  no  more  gentle  races  to  enslave,  no  more  com- 
paratively virtuous  races  to  debauch,  no  more  relatively  innocent 
races  to  prostitute.  Here  is  a  people  with  a  civilization  older 
than  Christianity,  more  virtuous  without  the  Bible  than  Chris- 
tians with  the  Bible,  who  have  kept  themselves  from  ruin  by 
shutting  out  the  foreigner,  and  so  excluding  the  iron,  remorse- 
less will  that  sacrifices  all  dynasties  to  its  ambition,  and  all 
chastities  to  its  lust.  The  last  insult  is  flung  in  the  face  of 
the  Almighty  !  It  remains  to  be  seen,  in  the  course  of  events, 
whether  God's  just  judgments  against  Christendom  will  much 
longer  be  deferred. 

587,  Great  Britain  holds  India  in  her  right  hand.  Through 
her  misgovernment  there,  half  a  million  of  her  subjects,  during 
twelve  months,  have  been  destroyed  by  famine  in  the  single 
province  of  Orissa.  Yet  crimes  like  these  are  committed  with- 
out national  remorse,  and  almost  without  public  attention.  The 
so-called  Christians  of  Christendom  are  so  accustomed  to  mur- 
dering each  other,  that  the  slaughter  of  believers  by  believers 
in  enormous  mja-iads  on  battle  fields,  is  a  periodical  necessity. 
To  keep  the  great  states  from  destroying  one  another,  each 
must  maintain  standing  armies  of  hundi^eds  of  thousands  of 
men.  But  no  armies  are  able  to  prevent  the  march  of  the 
more  insidious  and  terrible  destructions ;  commerce  slays  more 
by  the  difi'usion  of  deadly  drugs  and  di^nks  and  implements; 
adventure  slays  more  by  the  difi'usion  through  the  world  of  the 
depraved  and  the  unprincipled  -,  literature  slays  more  by  the 
dissemination  of  falsities  and  abominations,  than  war  on  all  its 
ghastly  battle  fields.  The  Jews  murdered  a  few  prophets  and 
worthy,  religious  men,  but  our  Lord  declared  that  the  conse- 
quences of  those  murders  should  re-act  in  the  destruction  of 
their  final  generation  ;  and  that  ruin  came.  Christendom, 
instead  of  murdering  prophets  has  slaughtered  races  and 
nationalities;  instead  of  crushing  a  few  representatives  of 
charity  and  religion,  has  almost  driven  the  spirit  of  charity 


SEC.  587—589.]         TSE   APOCALYPSE.  327 

from  tlie  globe.  The  plutocracy  holds  in  its  bosom  the  prelacy ; 
but  it  is  written,  "  Though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall 
not  go  unpunished. '^ 

588.  To  whatever  future  tend  the  nationalities,  so  far  as  the 
power  of  the  so-called  Christendom  can  determine  them,  with 
all  the  combined  sciences,  inventions,  arts,  and  powers  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  they  tend  to  immense  plutocracies.  Great 
Britain,  within  the  shell  of  an  aristocratic  monarchy ;  France, 
within  the  forms  of  its  imperialism;  America,  within  the 
mechanism  of  its  democracy;  all  have  germinated,  all  are 
maturing,  and  all,  for  a  time,  seem  destined  to  unfold  pluto- 
cratic empires. 

Chap.  hi.  2. — "Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things 
which  eemain,  that  aee  eeady  to  die  :  for  i  have  not 
found  thy  works  perfect  before  god." 

589.  Internal  respiration  proceeds  through  seven  preliminary 
stages  to  its  hrst  crisis,  and  then  through  seven  others  to  its 
second.  The  first  crisis  is  when  the  old  natural  soul  is  de- 
stroyed and  removed,  and  the  new  natural  soul,  as  a  germ, 
descends  from  the  Lord  into  the  centre  of  the  frame.  Hence- 
forth there  is  in  the  frame  a  ground  for  the  establishment  of 
individual  solidarity  and  harmony ;  nevertheless,  the  new 
natural  soul  being  thus  an  embryo,  it  can  only  grow,  first, 
through  the  constant  determination  of  the  man,  with  whole- 
hearted energy  and  fixedness,  to  do  God^s  will ;  and,  second, 
through  his  conspiration,  in  doing  that  will,  with  those  who, 
like  himself,  are  struggling  into  the  new  creation.  "^  Be 
watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,""  signifies, 
first,  that  unless  the  individual  holds  himself  fixed  in  this 
twofold  manner,  both  before  and  after  this  crisis,  there  are 
continual  dangers,  manifold  dangers,  enumerations  of  which 
follow.  So  long  as  the  old  natural  soul  remains,  it  yearns  to 
be  nourished  with  infernal-natm^al  life,  and  puts  forth  continual 
efforts  for  re-invigoration ;  it  is  sleepless,  ever  vigilant,  and  at 
every  point  aggressive.  As  the  outer  provinces  in  which  it 
operates,  namely,  in  the  nerve  essence,  begin  to  be  invaded 
through  the  divine  respiration,  it  saves  all  that  it  can  from  the 
destructions  which  there  take  place.  It  makes  itself  compact  of 


328  ARCAXA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.      [chap.  hi. 

power.  As  fost  as  its  forces  arc  driven  from  the  circumferences 
of  tlie  frame,  it  endeavours  to  throw  up  new  fortifications  about 
its  more  vital  seats ;  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither 
indeed  can  it  be.  It  constantly  Avorks  and  Avars  against  every 
pure  affection  in  the  will,  every  pure  thought  in  the  understand- 
ing, and  every  pure  determination  which  thence  endeavours 
to  descend  into  the  frame.  The  men  of  the  ancient  Golden 
Age  declined  from  charity,  and  their  state  was  finally  destroyed 
from  this  fact,  that  the  natural  soul  which  each  inherited  was 
a  base  for  evil  in  the  natural  degi'ee,  and  they  were  invaded 
through  it,  not  yielding  such  a  perfect  obedience  to  the  Lord 
as  He  demanded  and  required.  Inheriting  natural  souls  still 
more  depraved,  and  therefore  still  more  capacious  as  a  ground 
for  evil,  the  men  of  the  Silver  Age,  as  a  whole,  transmitted  to 
their  posterity  still  more  extended  bases  for  inversion  therein. 
The  men  of  the  Copper  Age,  who  were  their  descendants,  con- 
tinued the  same  course  of  deterioration  till  natural  good  almost 
ceased  from  the  face  of  the  whole  earth. 

590.  Respiration  may  open  in  two  ways,  from  internals 
to  externals,  and  from  externals  to  internals.  It  may  also 
open  in  a  third  and  fom'th  way,  through  the  surfaces  of  exter- 
nals, and  through  the  surfaces  of  internals,  proceeding  at  once 
from  the  outmost  to  the  inmost,  and  from  the  inmost  to  the 
outmost,  and  meeting  in  the  midst  of  the  superfices  of  the 
central  and  continuous  degree.  And  again,  it  may  begin  from 
a  point  in  the  central  degree,  and  ramify  by  spirals  toward 
externals,  and  toward  internals.  Respiration  necessarily  began 
from  externals  to  internals,  when  it  first  made  its  appearance  in 
the  world.  The  process  by  which  respiration  is  continued  after 
its  beginning,  perpetually  varies  until  the  varieties  become  in- 
numerable; for  instance,  if  respiration  has  begun  with  a  pivotal- 
radiative  man,  before  he  comes  to  the  first  crisis,  the  breaths 
may  disengage  themselves  from  his  organism,  clothe  themselves 
with  a  quickened  element  in  his  new  nerve  essence,  and  be 
condensed  into  the  smallest  of  forms.  When  thus  condensed, 
by  a  divine  process  they  may  be  led,  either  in  the  natural  lungs, 
or  in  the  natural  brain  of  such  persons  as  the  Lord  shall  will. 

591.  The  breaths  are  then,  through  a  divine  process,  un- 
folded into  aerial  spaces  within  the  spaces   of  the  lungs  and 


SEC.  590—592.]         THE   AFOCALYFSE.  329 

brain.  They  sympatliise  as  organic  forms  with  each  respira- 
tory vibration  in  the  system  whence  they  have  been  brought. 
Fays^  who  are  themselves  forms  of  the  affections  of  respira- 
tion^ are  enabled  to  enter  into  these^  and  through  them  to 
maintain  an  action,  and  with  comparative  safety  to  begin  their 
warfare  upon  the  evil  motives  and  affectionSj  the  progeny  of 
the  base  natural  soul.  The  natural  soul  operates  as  the 
most  potent  barrier  to  regeneration,  since,  by  means  of  it,  a 
field  is  opened  for  the  cultivation  of  natural  intercourse  with 
evil  spirits.  These  detached  volumes  and  organs  of  breaths, 
formed  throiigh  open  respiration,  are  led  into  frames  where  a 
divine  warfare  is  to  be  begun  against  the  old  natural  soul  and 
its  depravities.  Being  indued  with  instinctive  life  in  its  own 
degree,  when  these  living  clouds  of  respiration  first  begin 
to  operate  in  the  high  and  secret  places  of  the  lungs  and  brain, 
the  natural  soul,  as  a  tyrant  whose  usurped  dominions  are 
invaded,  or  as  a  condemned  malefactor,  with  all  the  potencies 
of  the  depraved  passions  and  perverse  inclinations,  endeavours 
to  arrest  the  breath.     This  initiates  a  new  warfare. 

592.  These  breaths  can  be  carried  into  the  bodies  of  indi- 
viduals, irrespective  of  regeneration,  as  follows  :  If  a  non-re- 
spiring person  is  connected  with  those  who  respire  by  ties  of 
blood,  there  is  a  nerve  rapport ;  they  are  in  one  family  sphere, 
and,  if  negative  and  open,  the  organic  respiration-forms  may 
be  led  into  them.  Children  may  receive  these  folded  breaths 
as  preparatives  for  respiration,  whose  parents  respire  openly, 
and  are  becoming  forms  for  the  new  creation.  Second,  it 
follows  the  line  of  the  marital  relation.  If  the  husband  is  one 
of  a  series  grouped  around  a  pivotal  centre,  and  is  himself 
fixed  in  conjugial  purity,  and  by  his  pervasive  sphere  neutral- 
ises the  scortations  that  invade  his  marital  associate,  the 
breath  cloud  may  enter  her  with  efficacious  influences.  Thus 
also  the  wife  may  instrmnentally  bring  such  visitations  to  her 
companion.  Third,  it  follows  in  the  line  of  sympathy  :  If  one 
who  respires  and  one  who  does  not  respire  maintain  an  in- 
tense friendship  for  each  other,  not  in  the  selfhood,  the  respi- 
ring person  yearning  for  the  baptism  of  the  non-respiring  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  the  same  consequences  may 
ensue.     Fourth,  it  may  be  an  answer  to  inspired  and  special 


330  ABOANA    OF   CRRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

prayer.  Fifth,  it  may  be  to  open  some  specific  individualj  in 
whose  organism  is  to  be  fought  a  specific  battle,  which  shall 
result  in  the  the  bringing  down  of  specific  divine  influences, 
and  in  the  overcoming  of  specific  infei^al  powers,  neutralising 
of  poisons  and  averting  of  plagues.  Sixth,  it  may  be  sent  as 
a  preparation  for  judgment,  and  seventh,  as  a  judgment. 

593.  When  respiration  is  continued  from  one  blood  relative 
to  another,  it  may  pass  from  one  in  a  higher  state  of  regene- 
ration to  one  lower,  from  equal  to  equal,  from  one  lower  to 
one  higher,  or  from  one  in  whom  regeneration  has  commenced 
to  one  in  whom  it  has  not  begun.  This  law  also  applies  to 
persons  connected  through  other  ties.  The  volume  of  detached 
breath  may  be  taken  from  one  higher  to  one  lower  with  the 
greatest  ease,  provided  there  is  earnest  desire  to  receive  purity 
and  the  chastenings  of  purity,  humility  and  the  experiences  of 
humility,  ser\'ice  and  the  trials  necessary  for  the  training  in 
service ;  this  follows  in  the  orderly  law  of  series.  It  is  not  so 
easy  between  equals  and  equals  in  regeneration,  because  there 
is  not  as  great  an  impulsive,  or  as  reduced  a  resistant  force. 
It  is  very  difficult  when  it  passes  from  inferiors  to  superiors 
in  regeneration.  This  is  possible  under  certain  conditions; 
as  when  a  person,  through  family,  or  social,  or  sympathetic 
nearness  to  some  individual  in  the  great  potencies  of  respira- 
tion, has,  by  reason  of  that  nearness,  taken  in  the  quickening 
element,  been,  as  it  were,  bathed  and  flooded  with  it,  and 
greatly  enriched  organically.  Such,  in  the  course  of  events, 
may  meet  the  man  or  woman  far  superior  to  themselves,  but 
never  brought  into  personal  and  direct  relations  with  those 
who  openly  respire  in  the  Lord.  The  divine  breaths  within 
them  may  then  begin  to  go  forth  into  such  waiting  and  recep- 
tive frames ;  quickenings  may  thus  be  communicated  uncon- 
sciously. When  persons  in  low  states  of  regeneration  thus 
serve  the  divine  ends,  the  rapport  established  from  frame  to 
frame  would  cause  their  destruction,  were  there  not  another 
process  by  which  they  are  thrown  into  instant  relations  with 
pivotal-radiative  centres  and  sub-centres,  who  meet  the  in- 
fernal opposition  that  arises.  An  individual  who  has  not  lived 
up  to  the  light  of  the  new  life,  and  whose  respiration  is  reced- 
ing, may,  in  this  manner,  and  for  such  ends,  have  volume  after 


SEC.  593—594-]  THE   APOCALYFSE.  831 

volume  of  the  divine  breaths  taken  away ;  and  this  is  an  occult 
fulfilment  of  the  declaration  in  the  Word,  "  Unto  every  one 
that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance ;  but 
from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away,  even  that  which 
he  hath/'  Finally,  respiration  may  proceed  from  persons  in 
whom  regeneration  has  not  begun,  in  the  same  manner.  The 
talent  committed  to  one,  and  buried  in  the  earth,  may  be 
taken  from  him  and  given  where  it  will  bring  to  the  Lord  His 
own  with  usance. 

594.  When  a  husband  has  given  himself,  body,  soul,  and 
spirit,  to  God,  he  may  be  led  into  respiration,  and  breathe  with 
such  copiousness,  the  breaths  moving  in  the  circuit  of  his 
affections  throughout  the  frame,  that  the  scortatory  elements^ 
being  destroyed,  will  be  followed  by  conjugial  elements,  vital- 
ities of  purity.  It  then  becomes  his  duty  as  a  new  Adam,  to 
lead  his  Eve,  if  possible,  into  the  new  Eden,  that  she  may 
bathe  in  the  fourfold  rivers,  and  partake  of  the  fruits  of  the 
tree  of  life.  The  heart  of  the  conjugial  husband  overflows 
from  this  time  with  an  infinite  tenderness,  and  he  yearns  to- 
wards her  incessantly.  If  she  resists,  he  seeks  to  find  some 
means  by  which  everything  can  be  removed  from  her  organ- 
ism which  keeps  her  from  perfect  freedom  and  rationality.  If 
she  is  obstinate  and  perverse,  he  may,  in  God,  go  on  from 
stage  to  stage,  till  every  quality  of  obstinacy  and  perversity  is 
removed  from  her  natural  organism,  and  nothing  left  but  what 
she  makes  her  own  by  the  determination  of  the  spiritual  will. 
If  she  is  in  a  sense  passive  and  negative,  he  is  enabled  to 
swathe  her  in  the  spheres  of  his  own  personality ;  above  all, 
he  is  enabled  to  dissipate  the  scortatory  virus,  unless  she  con- 
tinues to  generate  it  in  first  principles.  If  she  eats  and  drinks 
damnation  for  him,  by  transforming  food  into  nervous  fluid, 
and  surcharging  this  with  the  virus  of  scortation,  he  eats  and 
drinks  salvation  for  her  by  changing  food  into  nervous  fluid, 
surcharged  with  Divine  love,  peace,  clemency,  mercy,  purity. 
His  breaths  go  forth  as  spoken  of  before  ;  they  are  first  taken 
into  the  brain  and  lungs,  and  although  her  respiration  may 
not  change,  they  perpetually  diffuse  a  pm^ifying  influence. 
After  a  time,  she  may  begin  to  respire  by  sympathy  with  his 
respiration,  in  unison  with  the  pivotal  force. 


332  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  iir. 

595.  The  apostle  declares  that  it  is  a  great  mystery,  but  that 
the  love  which  the  Lord  bears  towards  His  church  is  like  the 
love  which  the  husband  bears  towards  the  wife.  This  is  unquali- 
fiedly true.  The  regenerate  man  is  the  crown  and  head  of  the 
woman,  and  bears  these  proud  titles,  not  as  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
who  rule  from  the  love  of  rule,  but  as  the  kings  of  the  Heavens, 
who  rule  from  the  desire  and  ability  to  serve  and  bless.  What 
cannot  the  good  husband  do  for  the  wife  through  this  impe- 
rial quality  ?  He  can  do  everything  instrumentally,  but  one 
thing ;  he  can  be  made  use  of  to  lead  the  respirations  into  her 
body,  to  restore  the  pure  quality  to  the  nervous  fluid,  to  rege- 
nerate the  nerve  essence,  to  extirpate  the  forms  of  natural 
motives  which  are  evil,  and,  if  he  attains  to  the  new  natural 
soul,  through  the  conjoint  intercession  of  soul  and  spirit,  there 
may  even  be  a  new  natural  soul  let  down  into  her  frame  ;  he 
all  the  while  standing  in  his  strength  from  God,  and  in  the 
form  and  image  of  the  Bridegroom,  that  he  may  afibrd  an 
illustration,  by  this  very  uttermost,  of  what  the  Lord's  love  is 
to  His  people.  But  this  is  not  all.  He  may  continue  to  hold 
and  bear  for  his  wife  until  that  point  is  reached  wherein  the 
Spirit  of  God  no  longer  will  wait  upon  her  dallying,  but  forces 
her,  as  a  responsible  moral  creature,  to  decide  whether  she  will 
accept  the  fulness  of  the  affections  and  duties  of  the  new  life. 
If  she  chooses  these,  the  husband  is  still  made  use  of,  and 
after  a  time  her  woman's  heart,  feeling  all  that  has  been  done 
for  it  by  the  Lord  through  him  for  it,  loves  that  dear  and 
faithful  man  with  an  ever-renewed  tenderness ;  she  becomes 
great  and  glorious  in  conjunction  with  him  in  the  new  crea- 
tion.    It  is  otherwise  if  she  dallies  beyond  a  certain  point. 

596.  The  world  has  yet  to  learn  the  infinite  loving -kindness 
of  our  Lord  in  the  mystery  of  redemption,  but  some  illustra- 
tions of  it  are  afforded  here.  Whatever  organically  is  done 
for  the  husband  in  the  new  creation,  if  he  will  only  be  aU  the 
Lord's  in  all  things  and  to  all  ends,  the  same  work  is  extended 
through  him  to  her  organism,  because  the  Lord  treats  the  two 
as  one.  They  are  not  declared  in  the  Word  one  spirit,  but 
they  are  declared  one  flesh ;  and  being  thus  one  flesh,  they 
may  be  one  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  fleshly  or  natural  degree 
of  rehabilitation.      Knit  up  into  one  nervous  essence,  they 


SEC.  595—598.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  333 

maintain  a  unity  of  nervous  life.  Hence  the  fays  engaged  in 
organizing  tlie  spaces  of  one  frame,  continue  the  same  process 
into  the  expanses  of  the  other.  These  expanses  can  never  be 
broken  up,  and  the  forms  of  the  new  creation  destroyed,  but 
through  gross  and  wilful  unfaithfulness. 

697.  After  a  certain  point  is  reached,  if  the  woman  is  not 
found  faithful  and  willing  to  advance,  the  new  natural  soul  in- 
stilled into  the  wife  makes  its  complaint  to  the  natural  soul  of 
the  husband.  It  says,  "  O  friend,  hitherto  I  have  been  main- 
tained in  my  place  in  the  centre  of  this  organism  through 
loving  conspirations,  by  which  you  have  ministered  to  me ; 
but  I  cannot  grow  as  you  grow.  Your  infancy  begins  to  be 
youth,  my  infancy  remains  infancy."  The  two  natural  souls 
then  counsel  together,  and  they  are  seen  internally,  as  in  the 
human  image,  looking  to  the  Lord.  Then  warnings  begin, 
but  if  they  are  not  heeded,  the  following  results  ensue,  as 
distinct  stages  between  the  beginning  of  the  destructions 
and  withdrawals  of  the  forms  of  the  new  creation,  from  the  one 
who  is  sinking  out  of  her  place  in  the  Lord^s  new  harmony, 
and  the  ultimate  catastrophe.  These,  however,  are  diversified 
with  innumerable  variations,  which  depend  upon  special  con- 
ditions with  the  individuals,  and  special  agencies  that  are  ope- 
rant without  and  within.  Whenever  the  person  thus  affected 
begins  to  experience  any  other  dominant  desire  than  to  belong 
wholly,  both  in  spirit  and  body,  to  the  new  kingdom  of  our 
Lord,  and  when  indifierence  begins  to  be  manifested  to  the 
outworkings  of  the  new  harmony  in  the  world,  with  a  germi- 
nant  state  of  coldness  or  indifference  to  its  interests,  when 
-there  is  a  looking  about  for  a  more  easy  path  in  life,  a  wish  to 
avoid  its  burdens  and  sorrows,  to  be  exempted  from  its  com- 
bats, and  to  be  exonerated  from  a  strict  obedience  to  its  laws, 
the  general  body  with  which  she  is  connected  begins  to  be 
affected. 

598.  When  one  such  woman  is  a  member  of  a  working 
series,  pains  begin  to  be  experienced  throughout  the  bodies  of 
the  sisterhood.  Inasmuch  as  the  Lord^s  life  is  coujugial  life, 
and  she  has  rejected  that  life,  and  inasmuch  as  the  virus  of  the 
Hells  is  all  scortatory  virus,  and  she  absorbs  that  virus,  plagues 
begin  to  appear  from  her^  infesting  both  the  bodies  of  the  vir- 


334)  ARGANA    OF   GRBISTIANITY.        [chap.  iir. 

gins  and  tlie  wives.  Those  plagues  take  the  form  at  first  of 
inexplicable  sadnesses  of  heart,  perturbations  of  the  animal 
spirits,  and  bodily  coldnesses.  They  diffuse  a  mental  and 
moral  evil.  Another  marvellous  thing  must  here  be  stated ;  aU 
of  the  new  natm-al  souls  throughout  the  sisterhood  unite  toge- 
ther as  one,  and  insphere  the  new  natural  soul  of  the  woman 
who  is  thus  falling  out  of  place,  holding  and  shielding  it  in 
their  embrace.  Then  begin  condensations,  solidifications  ;  the 
natural  souls  coalesce,  and  all  as  one  make  war  against  those 
determinations  through  which  the  woman  who  has  lost  her 
place  makes  war  against  the  new  creation.  Gradually  a  veil 
interposes,  and  this  lost  sister  is  visible  no  more.  Then  the 
fays,  who  are  working  to  transform  the  spaces  of  the  body  into 
a  physical  Eden,  as  a  first  symptom  begin  to  experience  pains, 
numbnesses,  and  coldnesses. 

599.  After  a  season,  the  solid  soil  in  the  organic  spaces 
opens,  fissures  are  seen,  bituminous  liquids  exude,  water 
springs  cease  to  flow.  A  dense  malarial  cloud  begins  to  be 
formed  in  the  atmosphere,  the  new  vegetation  droops,  the 
flock  and  herds  of  fairies  and  also  the  winged  creatures  are 
seen  sinking  into  apparently  inanimate  conditions.  The  re- 
splendent crystalescent  or  arboreal  dwellings  of  the  fays  appear 
as  if  blackened  by  gunpowder  or  scorched  with  fire.  A  fuli- 
ginous vapour,  which  forms  itself  into  a- pitchy  dew,  begins  to 
fall.  Alternate  winds  of  intense  coldness  and  of  a  dead  cor- 
roding heat  succeed  each  other,  now  flowing  in  long,  wave- 
like streams,  then  moving  as  whirlwinds.  The  incipient  for- 
mations around  the  new  natural  soul  begin  to  contract  about 
it,  and  her  respiration  diminishes.  At  a  divine  voice  the  fays 
then  begin  to  depart  from  that  desolated  land. 

600.  Where  a  short  time  before  had  been  orchards,  gardens, 
exquisite  paradisal  landscapes  and  harmonic  villages  of  the  fays, 
nothing  remains  after  their  departure  but  lifeless  ashes.  When 
they  have  finally  removed  all  their  possessions,  the  new  soils, 
waters,  and  atmospheres  are  seen  weltering  together  in  disso- 
lution, while  gradually  the  new  natural  soul,  more  and  more 
contracted  in  its  province,  and  encircled  within  a  crystalhne 
sphere,  begins  to  be  prepared,  not  for  decease,  but  for  separa- 
tion from  the  degraded  personality.     There  is  a  period  during 


SEC.  599—602.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  335 

wliicli  a  new  creation,  wholly  made  up  of  seemingSj  though  to 
a  natural  clairvoyant's  glance  it  might  seem  real  and  glorious, 
unfolds  its  witcheries  within  the  spaces  wherein  the  fay  work 
has  been  destroyed,  and  then  for  a  time  those  who  are  thus 
sliding  out  of  the  new  creation  are  glassy  upon  the  surfaces  of 
the  mind,  as  if  the  intellect  were  vitrified,  and  torpid  in  the 
affections,  as  if  the  heart  were  no  more  a  warm-blooded  organ. 
They  eat,  drink,  take  exercise,  discharge  labours,  pray  or  fast, 
read  the  Scriptures,  converse  as  before,  unable  to  comprehend 
their  declining  condition,  because  unwilling  to  see  the  grounds 
for  it  in  themselves,  that  is,  in  their  moral  state. 

601.  A  change  now  begins  to  take  place  in  the  blood,  the 
nervous  fluids,  in  the  emanations  from  the  person,  and  in  the 
outbreathings  from  the  lungs.  The  blood  has  been  poisoned ; 
the  elements  of  the  blood  that  circulates  in  the  veins  of  the 
general  body  of  mankind,  and  from  which  their  circulations 
were  being  freed,  gradually  return.  The  heart  begins  once 
more  to  reunite  itself  with  the  family,  the  tribal  and  the 
universal  heart  of  the  race,  from  which  it  had  been  iu  part 
separated.  The  nervous  fluid  is  tainted  also,  but  with  a  more 
deadly  substance;  and  in  the  same  manner  reconnects  itself 
from  particulars  to  generals  with  the  nervous  fluid  in  the 
universal  body  of  the  race.  The  effluvium  from  the  body,  in  a 
short  time,  first  through  one  little  congeries  of  pores,  and  at 
last  from  head  to  feet,  distils  into  the  air  a  cold  malaria,  iu 
which  at  times  is  felt  a  hot,  musky,  and  saccharine  element. 
When  afians  have  reached  this  pass,  there  is  seldom  any 
retm-n.  Now  also  the  breaths  from  the  lungs  begin  to  become 
wateiy ;  the  outbreathings  of  the  mouth  are  henceforth  desti- 
tute of  vitality,  they  are  rheumy  and  cold,  alternating  and 
becoming  dry  deadnesses. 

602.  The  next  series  of  phenomena  are  intestinal.  The 
finer  elements  of  food  neither  nourish  the  brain  nor  the  body. 
The  natural  organism,  as  it  relapses,  can  only  appropriate 
those  elements  which  correspond  to  the  old  natural,  corporeal, 
sensual,  and  mental  principles ;  this  also  holds  good  of  the 
atmospheres  and  emanations  which  are  absorbed  into  the 
frame;  but  these  finer  essences  pass  into  a  new  magical 
creation ;  a  new  corporeal  plane,  a  new  mental  jDlane,  and  this 


33G  ABCANA    OF   CUBISTIANITY.       [cuap.  hi. 

in  turn  npliolding  another  wliich  is  natural-affcctionul.  These 
planes  are  called  deaths  and  shadows.  They  cannot  be 
accreted  and  built  into  the  body,  because  the  old  natural  soul 
has  been  removed ;  nevertheless,  for  a  time  they  are  extended, 
and  only  wait  the  last  process  of  consolidation. 

603.  There  is  a  perpetual  magical  excrementation.  The 
demons  who  have  been  bound  while  the  individual  has  been 
led  into  the  beginnings  of  the  new  creation,  and  who  have 
remained  in  a  torpid,  partially  inactive  state,  feel  the  finer 
essence,  by  correspondence,  through  the  lower  Spiritual  World, 
as  food  injected  upward  into  their  own  bowels,  and  thence 
resolved  into  an  infernal  chyle  and  chyme,  and  so  distributed 
into  the  organs  of  vitality.  At  the  same  time,  the  bandages 
by  which  they  are  hold  begin  to  become  attenuated.  They 
begin  to  breathe  strongly,  with  every  breath  experiencing  a 
vivification  in  the  powers  of  the  will,  which  are  the  powers 
of  greatness.  There  now  begin  to  be  conspirations  and  re- 
actions, through  intermediate  spirits  who  are  in  the  lower 
Spiritual  Earth,  with  the  body  which  is  thus  sinking  into  their 
power.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  persons  having  been  thus 
uplifted  can  so  fall.  It  is,  nevertheless,  possible ;  and  this 
introduces  us  to  a  peculiarity  in  our  branch  of  the  human  race, 
which  is  strikingly  analogous,  in  this  respect,  to  one  typo  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  orb  wherein  evil  originated. 

604.  There  are  trees  that  grow,  and  yet  that  for  a  long  time 
hardly  seem  to  grow.  A  generation  passes,  during  which  the 
aloe  is  silently  secreting  and  maturing  its  wondrous  flower. 
So  there  are  minds  in  which  the  kingdom  of  God  grows 
solidly,  banding  atom  to  atom  all  the  while,  but  compressing 
the  very  elements  into  theh*  smallest  appearance,  and  becom- 
ing substances  and  potencies  ;  minds  that  tend,  in  this  sense, 
perpetually  from  porousness  to  solidity,  from  movabihty  to 
immovability ;  minds  that  build  up  the  body  into  one  structure 
of  inflexible  resolution ;  minds  that  at  last,  if  we  compare 
them  to  the  vessel,  do  not  resemble  the  gay  and  sumptuously 
decorated  steam  barge,  built  of  wood,  and  everywhere  at  the 
mercy  of  the  flame ;  but  are  rather  like  the  turret  ship,  iron- 
armoured  for  defence,  steel  beaked,  and  mounted  with  most 
perfect  enginery  for  offensive  war. 


SEC.  603—607.]  TEH   APOCALYPSE.  337 


605.  But  anotlier  tjipe  of  mankind  rapidly  take  into  them- 
selves tlie  emanations^  the  vitalities  of  those  who  are  becomino* 
spiritual-natural  or  celestial-natural ;  they  possess  an  enormous 
absorptive  power,  an  equally  capacious  adaptive  and  repre- 
sentative power  j  they  seem  to  grow,  yet  can  hardly  be  said 
to  grow.  If  circumstances  are  favourable,  they  for  years  may 
invigorate  and  replenish  themselves  by  absorptions  from  the 
lives  of  those  who  are  in  the  new  creation,  or  from  the  general 
body  of  those  lives.  They  may  receive  the  truths  of  the  divine 
order  intellectually,  but  always  with  a  certain  underlyino- 
stratum  of  irreverence.  Through  this  vital  rapport  with  the 
general  body  of  the  new  harmony,  the  winds  of  the  divine 
breath  may  course  from  degree  to  degree  through  the  ex- 
ternals of  their  frame ;  at  last  they  may  pass,  for  a  time, 
physically  into  the  embodied  movement  of  the  new  creation, 
and  exist  wholly  in  its  force  and  by  virtue  of  its  potencies. 

606,  They  may  yield  up  the  will  even,  to  work  the  will  of 
the  Lord  in  the  new  order  to  this  point,  that  they  will  fulfil 
the  letter  of  its  requirements  up  to  that  place  in  which  the 
preponderating  influence  in  the  organism  sways  them  to  the 
way  of  right.  They  may  thus  appear  to  be  with  angels  ;  they 
may  thus,  when  visible  in  these  objective  truths  and  deeds, 
appear  as  angels  or  angelic  spirits.  When  our  Lord's  new 
harmony  is  a  formed  fact  of  society  in  the  natural  world,  they 
may  so  project  themselves  bodily  into  the  body  of  those  har- 
monies as  to  pass  through  every  preliminary  stage,  to  the 
instant  preceding  the  decease  of  the  old  natural  soul.  If  at 
this  point  they  can  hold  the  will  acquiescent,  unrebellious, 
passive,  and  if  they  are  entirely  included  in  the  bodily  sphere 
of  the  general  body  of  the  new  creation  upon  earth,  the  new 
natural  soul  descends  and  takes  its  place  for  a  divine  jDurpose 
within  the  organism. 

607.  They  are  liable,  at  the  slightest  touch,  to  pause  from 
this  suspended  and  quiescent  state  in  the  spiritual  will.  Out- 
wardly and  organically  they  may  seem  as  fixed  in  the  new 
harmony  as  porphyry  or  granite  in  the  universal  system  of  the 
globe;  but  inwardly  they  are  like  infants  or  children  who  are 
very  sweet  and  obedient,  because  excluded  from  the  inversivo 
forces.    They  arc  held  in  a  tentative  condition ;  the  evil  spirits 

T 


338  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITY.  [chap.  iit. 

are  driven  out  of  the  lioiiso,  and  all  the  chambers  are  swept 
and  garnished.  A  vast  work  has  been  done  organically  for 
them,  just  as,  in  a  certain  comparison,  the  Lord  God  does 
great  things  upon  the  unfallen  orbs ;  great  things  structurally 
and  bodily,  while  as  yet  there  is  a  certain  softness  and  pli- 
ability in  the  will,  rather  than  solid  and  unflinching  resolution. 
As  it  was  with  the  men  upon  the  planet  where  evil  originated, 
a  vast  structural  righteousness  is  formed  about  them,  and  the 
conditions  are  made  most  favourable  for  a  resplendent  evo- 
lution of  the  inmost  nature,  from  seminal  principles  of  good. 

608.  Om'  Lord  is  seen  as  the  Good  Shepherd,  carrying 
some  upon  His  bosom  into  the  new  creation  and  the  bodily 
re-creation,  while  He  is  seen  leading  others,  who  follow  Him 
often  painfully,  along  the  steep  acclivities.  He  carries  those 
who  are  most  imbecile.  He  leads  those  who  are  least  imbecile, 
though  in  a  sense  He  carries  all.  Persons  who  of  themselves, 
while  enveloped  in  the  meshes  of  the  magical  net  which 
encompasses  society,  would  never  seek  the  new  creation,  and 
never  begin  to  take  into  themselves  its  quickening  elements, 
through  the  various  relations  of  life,  may  be  uplifted  by  means 
of  those  in  whom  the  Lord  is  making  His  open  manifestation. 
It  is  what  on  a  lesser  scale  we  see  all  around  us ;  through  the 
wisdom  of  the  wise  many  are  made  intelligent ;  through  the 
righteousness  of  the  righteous  many  are  made  righteous ; 
they  are  brought,  through  the  acquiesence  of  the  nature  in 
good,  by  peculiar  processes,  into  a  fixedness  in  good;  they  are 
lifted  from  the  quagmire  and  delivered  from  the  prison  house ; 
they  are  of  the  lunar  rather  than  of  the  solar  type;  they 
require  an  infinite  forbearance  at  every  crisis  in  their  con- 
ditions ;  they  are  only  able  to  advance  if  persons  from  a 
superior  degree  stand  as  sureties  for  them  before  the  Lord, 
taking  into  their  own  bodies  the  pains  and  penalties  that 
grow  out  of  suretyship,  and  subjecting  themselves  to  the 
danger  of  fearful  catastrophes. 

609.  They  are  like  one  class  of  those  of  the  orb  Oriona,  in 
another  respect,  namely,  in  their  expectancy  of  a  perpetual 
exhilaration  from  the  inpouring  life  of  the  associated  har- 
mony. Nevertheless,  it  is  possible,  all  things  being  provided, 
that  they  may  become  in  season  solid,  positive,  indomitable. 


SEC.  608—611.]  TRE   AFOCALTFSI].  3S9 

and  invulnerable.  After  such  have  passed  the  transition  and 
entered  into  that  state  that  begins  with  the  incoming  of  the 
new  natural  soul,  a  point  is  reached,  where,  first  in  small 
things,  and  afterward  in  larger  things,  peculiar  bm-dens  are 
laid  upon  them,  and  there  is  a  time  of  trial.  They  are  dealt 
with  very  graciously.  Our  Lord  deals  more  graciously  with 
the  subjects  of  His  care,  in  the  ratio  of  their  tendency  to 
negativeness  and  imbecility.  They  are  gradually  roused  out 
of  their  quiescent-  state. 

610.  These  persons  then  must  be  divided  into  two  classes  ; 
a  division  not  necessary  in  itself,  yet  made  necessary  by  the 
unwillingness  of  some  to  put  forth  the  energies  which  result 
in  fruitfulness  of  use  in  the  new  creative  powers.  As  they 
have  been  born  structurally  into  the  new  harmony,  so  they 
must, — and  from  this  there  is  no  escape, — embody  its  life  in 
a  fulness  of  aifection ;  grow  able  to  hold  themselves  in  equili- 
brium, and  be  set  off  as  plants  that  have  sprung  from  a  parent 
root,  and  now  have  sufficient  rootage  of  their  o\vn  to  live 
and  ripen  and  increase.  Some,  when  they  find  that  their  new 
states  of  life  open  doorways  into  persistent  labours,  that  can 
only  be  carried  on  through  more  observant  and  careful  self- 
abnegations,  and  through  taking  all  sorrows  as  joys,  and  all 
accessions  of  burdens  as  new  causes  for  thanksgiving,  may 
change  the  quiescent  state  of  the  will  to  one  of  gradual  holding- 
back  or  shrinking  away  or  tacit  resistance  to  the  requirements 
of  the  law.  When  duties  are  assigned  to  those  in  the  Divine 
Providence,  which  are  given  for  the  purpose  of  ripening  them 
into  fixed  godliness,  they  will  silently  murmur,  complain,  and 
protest ;  becoming  oblivious  to  the  felicities  of  their  lot,  its 
wholesome  discipline,  its  thrice  profitable  burden-bearing  will 
become  irksome.  If  they  continue  to  discharge  duties,  it  will 
be  because  they  seem  inevitable  and  pressed  upon  them. 

611.  Those  who  are  ripest  in  the  Divine  life  will  first  begin 
to  feel  the  premonitions,  which  announce  that  such  are  re- 
subjecting  themselves  to  the  slavery  from  which  they  have 
been  emancipated  and  the  death  which  had  been  vanquished 
in  their  behalf.  Those  in  the  Lord's  new  kingdom  most  con- 
versant with  their  spiritual  state,  and  acquainted  with  their 
vicissitudes,  and  especially  those  who  have  become  responsible 

Y  2 


310  ARCANA    OF   CERISTIANITY.       [chap.  hi. 

in  surctysliip  for  tlioir  profitable  use  of  tlie  divine  substances, 
wronglit  into  their  new  bodily  creations,  will  begin  to  ex- 
perience such  sorrow  as  we  might  imagine  the  Spirit  of  the 
Spring  to  suffer  at  the  blighting  of  her  flowers,  or  the 
Genius  of  the  Summer  to  undergo  in  the  cutting  off  of  her 
unripened  fruits ;  while  the  general  body  of  the  living 
members  of  the  Lord^s  now  creation  will  be  oppressed,  as  is 
a  mother  whose  unborn  babe  is  dying  and  tending  to  a  slow 
corruption  within  her. 

912.  From  this  period  those  in  whom  the  divine  life  thus 
recedes  are  as  ulcers,  putrifying  sores,  bleeding  wounds  in  the 
body  of  the  new  creation  of  the  Lord  with  man.  At  last  they 
are  engaged  organically,  by  the  compulsion  of  the  movement 
into  which  they  have  now  entered,  to  fight  against  the  new 
harmony,  to  the  action  of  which  they  are  in  vital  opposition, 
but  from  which  bodily  they  are  not,  unfortunately,  disengaged. 
Those  who  have  most  laboured  for  them  are  in  the  position 
of  parents  whose  offspring  are  falling  into  parricidal  insanity ; 
of  married  partners  whose  associates  rise  by  night  to  introduce 
venomous  serpents  into  the  bed,  or  burn  the  house  with 
fire ;  or  like  the  crew  of  a  ship  far  from  land,  amidst  the  lone- 
liness of  the  sea,  when  one  of  their  number  is  boring  through 
a  planking  below  the  water-line,  and  letting  in  the  waves  ; 
they  are  like  soldiers  in  a  beleaguered  fortress,  one  of  whose 
band  has  silently  thrown  open  an  entrance  to  the  enemy. 
The  vocabulary  might  be  exhausted  in  describing  the  calami- 
ties which  such  might  cause,  were  it  not  for  the  merciful 
providence  of  God.  On  the  lost  orb  individuals  of  this  type, 
held  in  the  receptivity  but  not  in  the  adamantine  incorporation 
of  good  through  the  old  harmony  of  their  planet,  when  that 
harmony  was  shattered  by  the  birth  of  sin  and  by  its  organi- 
zation into  rebellion,  gave  themselves  up  by  myriads  to  be- 
come the  supporters  of  the  apostasy ;  and  such  will  become 
on  our  earth,  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared,  and  after  the  body 
has  perished,  magicians  and  sorcerers,  enchanters  and  en- 
chantresses. 

613.  If  such  have  been  delivered  from  any  physical  mala- 
dies, or  from  the  consequence  of  them,  through  the  ministra- 
tions of  those  who  have  become  sureties,  those  who  have  thus 


SEC.  612—615.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  341 

become  responsible  will  be  attacked  bodily  by  those  diseases 
in  the  very  spirits  of  their  potencies.  If  these  sureties  have  been 
made  use  of  to  help  to  deliver  them  from  any  mental  or  moral 
insanities^  the  infernal  powers  that  dwell  in  and  work  their 
magic  through  such  insanities,  according  to  their  specialties, 
will  have  power  terrifically  to  assail  them  both  in  spirit  and 
in  body,  both  directly  and  mediately,  both  separately  and 
by  societies.  If  they  have  been  cut  off  by  this  blessed  mini- 
stration from  corrupting  associations,  a  like  tornado  will  bm-st 
upon  the  heads  of  these,  their  benefactors,  through  the  sluice 
ways  of  evil  in  the  natural  world.  Those  who  have  been  made 
use  of  to  bind,  and  in  other  methods  to  restrain  infernal  spirits 
for  their  relief,  (for  binding  evil  spirits,  see  index,)  must  be 
prepared  to  behold  all  of  those  infernals  organized  into  one 
compact  body  and  stimulated  to  the  very  fierceness  of  hatred, 
and  raging  like  so  many  demoniacal  wolves,  with  power,  by 
means  of  sorceries,  to  tear  at  the  flesh  of  the  flesh,  to  ravin 
for  the  possession  of  the  finest  essence  of  the  frame. 

614.  Gradually  a  false  appearance  of  the  organized  form 
of  the  new  natural  will,  unfolding  into  vastness,  ascends  from 
the  deep  interiors ;  in  the  same  manner  with  the  preceding 
extensions,  the  false  appearances,  which  simulated  the  bodies 
of  the  new  natural  mentality  and  corporeality.  As  when  the 
larva  matures  itself  to  become  a  caterpillar,  so  this  embodied 
form,  feeding,  crawling,  and  spreading  its  loathsome  lengths 
throughout  the  intricacies  of  the  nerves,  lies  at  last  like  a  dead 
stupid  grub,  nourished  with  a  fatty  humour,  touchiug  out- 
wardly the  very  processes  of  the  skin,  becoming  more  gross 
perpetually,  stupefying  the  brain,  making  the  hearing  dull,  the 
vision  opaque,  like  the  sensations  of  those  who  have  gorged 
themselves  with  excesses  of  food  and  drink.  There  is  now  a 
strong  desire  for  longevity  in  the  natural  world,  not  so  much 
for  active  enjoyment  as  for  sloth.  When  this  state  is  won 
two  distinct  paths  diverge,  two  different  results  appear,  one 
for  those  who  retain  a  little  germ  of  good,  whose  fall  is  of  the 
nature  of  lethargy  and  stupidity ;  the  other  for  those  whose 
fall  is  occasioned  by  a  desire  to  become  devilish  and  infernal. 

615.  The  first  are  stricken  of  God  with  slow  wastiugs;  for 
so  long  as  that  principle  of  good  remains,  in  ever  so  small 


842  ARCANA   OF  CIIRISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

a  germ,  tlie  Lord  seeks  to  arouse  tlic  spirit  into  regenerative 
effort.  They  are  kept  alive  tlirougli  the  circulations  of  the 
general  body  of  the  Lord's  new  harmony  ou  earth,  the  move- 
ment of  which  mediatorially  sustains  the  new  natural  soul. 
Such  are  utter  anomalies.  Though  this  small  germ  remains, 
they  evade  the  application  of  the  divine  truth  when  its  processes 
become  searching,  as  the  fish  darts  under  water  when  pursued 
by  one  of  stronger  and  more  ferocious  type.  They  can  be 
almost,  but  never  quite,  made  to  see,  to  feel,  to  act.  At  times, 
under  these  Divine  searchings,  all  but  the  most  experienced 
would  be  deceived  by  their  apparently  contrite,  subdued,  and 
seeking  condition.  They  are  insane,  though  not  hopelessly  so  ; 
not  insane  in  the  medical  sense,  as  understood  in  the  world, 
but  held  in  a  qualified  rationality  by  that  divine  harmony 
that  refuses  to  cast  them  out  from  itself  while  hope  remains. 

616.  Under  these  visitations  they  are  by  turns  morose  and 
apparently  genial,  foolish  and  -wise,  dull  and  brilliant,  timid 
and  courageous,  ascetical  and  worldl}'^,  now  given  to  weeping 
and  then  hard  as  stone ;  but  their  general  state  is  one  of 
tacit  resistance,  tacit  pride.  They  are  then  like  those  Israelites 
who  journeyed  for  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  pre- 
paring for  themselves  a  slow,  sluggish  existence  for  centuries, 
as  wanderers,  unless  the  divine  agencies  intervene.  Their 
condition  is  peculiar ;  certain  great  tjuths  have  been  so  made 
a  part  of  the  internal  understanding,  so  organized  into  memory, 
that  while  these  burning  verities  do  not  lead  them  into  the 
Heavens,  they  nevertheless  fill  them  with  horror  lest  they 
should  be  taken  into  Hell.  The  demons  of  the  lost  orb  are 
their  great  dread ;  next  the  antediluvian  demons  of  our  own 
planet.  Though  they  had  once  been  Calvinists,  they  live  in 
mortal  fear  of  the  demons  who  move  in  the  infernal  body  of 
Calvinism ;  and  though  from  childhood  steeped  in  the  tenets 
of  Eomanism,  the  sight  of  spirits  who  were  male  or  female 
ecclesiastics  causes  them  to  shudder  and  scream.  They  begin 
to  shrink  into  themselves. 

617.  There  is  a  peculiar  place  allotted  for  them  spiritually 
on  the  borders  where  Nature  and  the  World  of  Spirits  seem  to 
meet.  They  now  cease  to  appear,  as  a  rule,  spiritually,  except  in 
this  vacuity,  and  here  they  begin  to   elaborate  their   future 


SEC.  6j 6—618.]  THE   APOCALYPSU.  343 


dwelling-place.  Theirs  is  eminently  the  province  of  negations; 
hence  the  positive^  by  its  presence^  causes  sufFerino-.  What- 
ever is  the  quality  of  their  constructive  genius^  henceforth  it 
works  here  in  a  small;,  trivial  way ;  everything  is  left  undone, 
nothing  finished ;  there  is  no  adjustment ;  they  can  never  draw  a 
celestial  vortical  line,  or  an  abysmal  involution  of  a  line ;  every- 
thing breaks  off  as  it  is  begun.  The  very  appearances  of  the 
domestic  articles  in  which  they  coldly  delight,  are  not  like  the 
ware  of  the  potter,  elaborated  on  the  wheel,  but  resemble  little 
fragments  of  shards,  painfully  agglutinated  together  by  means  of 
that  pitchy  liquid,  spoken  of  before  as  secreted  within  them. 
If  objects  that  resemble  food  are  on  these  dishes,  they  shrink 
from  them  unless  they  are  made  of  neutralised  elements  ;  their 
flesh  must  be,  as  it  were,  neutralised  between  the  cat  and  the 
hare ;  their  fowl,  between  the  buzzard  and  the  goose  ;  it  must 
not,  as  to  its  odour,  emit  an  absolute  taint,  neither  must  it  give 
forth  the  savoury  fragrance  of  healthful  juiciness.  Their  cloth- 
ing must  not  be  quite  monastic,  or  quite  worldly. 

618.  The  elements  which,  discreted,  would  resolve  themselves 
into  the  separated  forms  of  fantasy  and  reason,  seem  with  them 
always  to  be  upon  the  point  of  separating,  but  do  not  separate, 
yet  gyrate  in  a  perpetual  whirl.  The  eye  has  neither  the 
celestial  perspective  nor  the  infernal  perspective,  therefore 
there  is  no  horizon.  They  know  not  how  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  mole-hills  and  the  mountains ;  the  back-ground  and 
the  fore-ground  lie  together.  They  have  neither  the  celestial 
ear  nor  the  infernal  ear ;  and,  except  when  terrified,  cease  to 
hear  at  all.  Some  of  them  will  put  on  the  appearance  of  Indian 
devotees,  but  always  with  the  protest  that  they  are  not  de- 
votees ;  others  have  masks,  imitation  jewels,  head  dresses,  and 
some  forlorn  resemblance  of  sjalendid  garments,  over  which 
they  busy  themselves ;  protesting  always  that  it  is  not  from 
vanity  or  worldliness,  or  from  any  love  of  finery  or  display. 
They  cannot  be  pleased  either  with  gifts  from  angels  or  devils. 
If  they  begin  to  grow  warm  from  a  celestial  fire  kindled  near 
them,  they  are  afraid  of  liquefaction,  and  hasten  to  bring  about 
what  they  deem  a  proper  frigidity;  this  also  with  respect  to 
infernal  fire.  They  have  no  friends,  though  in  a  distant  sense 
they  recognise  the  Lord  as  a  Great  Protector,  and  angels  as 


314  ARCANA    OF   CURISTIANITY.        [cuap.  iir. 

servants  of  Ilim,  The  gleam  of  their  faith  maybe  compared 
to  moonlight  in  its  last  possible  attenuation.  They  are  chiefly 
dangerous  in  the  night  while  they  remain  in  the  body. 

619.  Such  are  of  a  frog-like  nature;  they  live  within  those 
increments  which  they  fossilize  about  themselves,  as  this  crea- 
ture subsists  for  ages  in  a  cell  of  stone.  Unless,  as  before  said. 
Divine  influences  intervene,  they  prepare  for  themselves,  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  body,  an  imprisoned  life.  That  germ  of 
good  remains  within  them  which  prevents  their  sinking  into 
Hell ;  it  is  like  that  grain  of  wheat  buried  in  the  bosom  of  a 
mummy,  that  is  said  to  retain  for  ages  the  germinating 
principle,  but  which  makes  no  growth,  though  over  its  sepul- 
chre troop  the  fervid  seasons  of  forty  centuries.  There  is  a 
process  by  which  they  are  gently,  softly,  harmlessly  cut  off 
from  the  living  vine  of  God's  new  harmony ;  and  another  pro- 
cess by  which  their  new  natural  soul  in  the  decease  of  the  body 
is  gently  uplifted  to  a  place  in  the  archetypal  world  prepared 
and  apart.  There  is  still  a  third  process  by  which  they  are 
kept  as  a  sort  of  harmless,  inoffensive  spectre  or  phantom,  in 
proximity  to  the  boundary  land  of  the  new  creation ;  and  a 
fourth  process  by  which  they  are  taught  how,  yet  without 
seeming  to  be  taught,  one  step  in  a  year,  to  advance.  They 
are  styled  "  untimely  births  "  and  "  imbeciles."  All  of  this 
must  be  written  prospectively,  as  of  things  that  are  liable  to 
be. 

620.  Wives  who  are  being  uplifted  organically  into  the  new 
creation,  by  means  of  the  bridegroom  tenderness  of  the  Lord 
working  through  husbands  principled  in  the  new  life,  should  take 
this  text  as  addressed  especially  and  with  great  force  of  mean- 
ing to  themselves ;  to  watch  their  states,  to  resist  all  coldnesses, 
to  search  out  for  the  beginnings  of  pride  and  of  indifference, 
and  zealously  to  guard  the  life  of  every  new  and  incipient 
affection  of  good.  In  a  word,  it  behooves  them  to  "  be  watchful, 
and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,  that  are  ready  to 
die." 

621.  The  Woman's  Word  is  let  down  in  a  tentative  manner, 
through  conjugial  respiration,  into  the  natural  organism  of 
women,  when  they  are  becoming  celestial-natural.  That  is  to 
say,  there  are   minute    forms  throughout  the   organs  of   the 


SEC.  619—623.]         TRE   APOCALYFSU.  345 

frame^  perceived  in  tlieir  unity,  if  that  sight  is  permitted,  in 
tlie  shadowy  image  of  a  woman,  infinitely  beautiful,  floating  as 
it  were  in  her  own  pure  atmosphere,  as  described  before.  Con- 
junction is  then  gradually  effected  between  the  forms  that  are 
from  the  Woman^s  Word  and  the  organic  structures  of  the 
person  into  whom  it  is  let  down.  This  is  the  crisis  time  with 
the  woman.  Shall  she  adopt  the  Woman's  Word  within  her, 
for  the  inspirer  of  the  volitions  of  the  will,  and  thence  the  re- 
gulator of  the  motions  of  the  frame  ?  If  yea,  then  she  enters 
both  into  chastity  and  solidarity,  she  becomes  one  with  God's 
open  breathing  people,  and  she  cannot  act  but  in  theii*  com- 
bined series,  or  labour  but  for  the  beautiful  harmonies  of  the 
new  creation. 

622.  Was  she  naturally  cold,  torpid,  phlegmatic,  physically 
indolent,  disposed  to  reverie,  fond  not  of  serving  others  but  of 
being  served,  prone  to  look  upon  labour  as  a  burden  and  a 
curse  ?  Was  she  naturally  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  others, 
hard,  exacting,  critical  ?  It  is  wonderful  to  behold  the  change  ! 
Her  frame  is  so  full  of  the  new  life,  descending  through  the 
Woman's  Word,  that  at  times  she  feels  to  herself,  from  the 
abundance  of  influx,  weighty  as  if  advanced  in  pregnancy. 
An  inexpressible  tenderness  dwells  in  her  eyes,  and,  though 
dead  and  lustreless  before,  there  are  now  periods  when  they 
are  as  liquid  stars,  beaming  from  the  fulness,  the  purity,  and 
intensity  of  unutterable  love.  She  becomes  warm  physically, 
sensationally,  conjugially.  The  fire  of  chastity  glows  within 
her  bosom  and  is  distributed  thence.  Her  zeal  is  to  serve. 
She  carries  conscience  into  the  minutest  things.  She  worships 
God  as  revealed  in  the  new  industry.  Her  place  is  deter- 
mined for  her  by  aptness.  She  develops  a  charming  spon- 
taneity ;  her  old  traits  disappear ;  she  becomes  continually 
more  loveable,  more  firm  in  use,  yet  more  docile  as  a  pupil  of 
use.  Is  she  unmarried,  the  Word  unfolds  in  her  through  its 
vestal  sense,  making  her  a  member  of  the  series  called  the 
''^  Vestalate."  Her  thoughts  are  sweet  as  bridal  flowers.  The 
affections  of  a  new  innoccncy  irradiate  her  face. 

623.  The  Woman's  Word  opens  in  married  females,  not  in 
its  vestal,  but  its  marital  sense.  Here  besfin  arcana  too  sacred 
for  public  expression.     The  vestal  sense  is  a  Spring,  but  the 


346  AFiCANA    OF   GHBISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

marital  a  Summer  ;  the  vestal  sense  a  tender  dawn,  the  marital 
the  refulgent  sunrise,  advancing  thence  by  ordered  states  to 
the  everlasting  meridian,  and  shining  there.  The  vestal  sense 
brings  with  it  respiration  continued  into  the  bosoms  of  the 
virgins  in  the  Heavens,  and  of  series  of  virgins  throughout 
harmonic  worlds,  and  suns  of  the  unfallen  universe.  There  is 
a  breathing  both  by  inhalation  and  by  expiration  of  the  sacred 
quahties  of  this  pure  virginity,  till,  though  the  woman  were 
old  and  stricken  with  the  inj&rmities  of  age,  she  becomes,  from 
head  to  foot,  as  replete  with  youthful  fragrancy  and  freshness 
as  a  maiden  in  her  prime.  Those  in  whom  the  marital  sense 
is  opened,  respire  through  it  into  the  bosoms  of  their  sisters  of 
the  great  wifehood  of  the  Heavens,  and  the  wifehood  of  the 
suns  and  the  planets.  They  share  in  the  first  qualities  of  that 
ardom"  which  generates  the  processions  of  the  flowers. 

624.  But  those  who  possess  the  marital  sense  opened  ^vithin 
them,  have  also  the  vestal  sense  ;  so  that  they  are  with  virgins 
as  virgins,  or  rather  as  wife-virgins,  while  they  are  with  wives 
as  wives.  A  husband  in  the  Heavens  is  sometimes  surprised 
in  retm'ning  to  his  habitation,  after  the  resplendent  uses  of  the 
day,  to  behold  his  wife  advancing  to  meet  him  as  in  a  new 
maidenhood,  and  seven  times  more  a  maiden  than  she  ever  was 
before.  From  this  new  flowering  of  the  soul  unfolds  for  him 
a  new  wifehood  in  her,  in  which  she  is  seven  times  more  a  wife 
than  ever  before.  These  changes  of  state,  and  thence  of  the 
appearances  of  the  person,  are  efi'ected  through  the  alternations 
of  the  respirations  by  means  of  the  changes  and  interplays 
between  the  vestal  and  marital  senses  in  the  Woman's  Word, 
insphered  within  the  individual  person.  So,  as  the  new  crea- 
tion appears  on  earth,  one  conjugial  series  of  states  comes  to 
an  end  with  the  wife,  and  they  terminate  not  in  coldness  or 
deadness,  but  in  a  new  spring-time  of  afiection  and  sensation, 
through  a  new  opening  of  the  vestal  sense,  and  thence  they 
rise  to  a  new  summer-time  of  affection  and  sensation,  through 
a  new  opening  of  the  marital  sense. 

625.  When  a  new  wife  is  added  to  the  series,  there  are  new 
nuptials  and  nuptial  festivities  between  every  conjugial  pair, 
constituting  the  series,  whereof  no  more  can  be  said,  except 
this,  that  there  is  new  holiness,  that  is,  a  superadding  of  holi- 


SEC.  624—627.]         TSE   APOCALYFSK  347 

ness  to  holiness,  and  thence  of  joy  to  joy.  So  when  a  new 
vestal  is  added  to  the  vestalate,  there  is  new  joy  both  through- 
out the  marital  and  vestal  series,  the  joy  is  ineffable,  unutter- 
able. The  Infinite  Mother-Woman,  the  Divine  Femininity, 
who  is  one  with  the  Divine  Masculinity,  extends  Her  arms 
throughout  the  organic  forms  of  Woman\s  Word,  and  as  it 
were,  ingathers  each  new  wife-child  or  virgin-child  into  the 
Great  Bosom  that  is  the  home  of  all  chastities  and  all  felicities. 

626.  But  to  this  picture  there  is  a  terrible  reverse.  Pro- 
portionate to  the  height  to  which  woman  may  rise  in  the  new 
life,,  is  the  terribleness  of  her  fall  out  of  that  life,  and  out 
of  those  budding,  blossoming,  and  ripening  harmonies.  All 
states,  good  or  evil,  unfold  from  the  minutest  of  seed-germs, 
first  generated  in  the  will.  A  wish,  an  organized  desire  em- 
bodied in  a  determination,  a  state  of  encom-aged  coldness 
which  makes  a  winter  in  the  will  and  fights  against  God's 
summer-breath  therein,  these  conjointly,  though  at  first  in- 
finitesimal, may  go  forth  by  due  increase  until  they  re- 
conquer for  winter  and  for  death  the  whole  orb  of  the  person- 
ality. When  persons  of  the  feminine  sex  are  found  utterly 
deficient,  after  long  trial,  the  Great  Mother  banishes  them 
either  from  the  vestalate  or  wifehood,  according  as  then'  place 
has  been,  by  quietly  infolding  and  updrawing  the  forms  of  the 
Woman's  Word  that  had  been  let  down  into  the  expanses  of 
the  frame.  They  then  return  to  their  original  fantasies.  If 
they  were  wildly  imaginative,  cold-blooded,  fantastic,  garru- 
lous, secretive,  bustling,  absorptive,  or  whatever  were  their 
peculiarities,  they  return  with  modifications ;  or  reappear, 
rather  as  the  cold  and  waning  lights  of  autumn,  than  as  the 
lustres  of  the  spring ;  not  as  rising,  but  as  setting  rays. 

627.  It  is  in  mercy  that  the  Woman's  Word  is  withdrawn 
from  them.  After  it  is  taken  away  they  gradually  pass,  to 
spiritual  sight,  out  of  sunshine  into  shadow.  Their  equili- 
brium undergoes  an  entire  change ;  instead  of  balancing  be- 
tween direct  Heaven  and  direct  Hell,  and  of  fighting  against 
a  direct  infernal  life  by  means  of  a  direct  celestial  life ;  even 
while  natural  existence  continues,  they  put  on  the  habitudes 
of  those  spirits,  in  the  limbo  or  intermediate  space,  who  are 
wanderers.     The  mind  wanders  in  vague  fantasy ;  the  imagi- 


34.8  ARCANA    OF   CURISTIANITT.         [chap.  hi. 

nation  teems  with  incongruous  forms ;  apathetic  coldness  is 
manifested  in  the  general  concurrence  of  all  their  states.  The 
features  alternate  between  a  vacant  mental,  and  a  dull  cor- 
poreal expression.  Night  comes  at  last.  If  their  sin  has  been 
of  that  species  which,  while  it  cuts  them  off  from  the  new 
harmony,  does  not  kill  the  last  germ  of  regeneration ;  if  it  has 
been,  in  a  word,  partly  a  fatuous  evil,  for  which  there  is  for- 
giveness in  a  final  time  of  restitution,  before  they  die  they 
may  become  passive,  harmless,  gentle,  though  imbecile.  If 
their  sin  is  of  a  mortal  character,  the  result  of  grasping  after 
demonhood,  they  drop  as  if  a  millstone  were  tied  about  their 
neck,  and  they  were  cast  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

628.  To  vision,  opened  in  the  Word,  those  of  the  first 
quality  may  be  seen  islanded  ;  that  is,  with  elements  grouped 
about  them  which  serve  in  some  sense  as  a  protection  against 
worse  magic.  The  elements  which  take  the  place  of  the  new 
creation,  throughout  the  expanses  of  their  bodies,  gradually 
waste,  and  are  resolved  into  thin,  white  clouds  about  them. 
In  these  clouds  they  are  seen  for  a  time,  whilst  in  the  body ; 
by  means  of  them  they  are  veiled  from  the  subtle  demons ; 
through  this  means  both  celestial  lights'  and  infernal  dark- 
nesses are  tempered  to  them.  They  compose,  after  such  leave 
the  body,  veils  in  wliich  they  walk  as  Avanderers,  till  their 
vastation  is  complete.  To  those  in  whom  there  is  the  first 
incipiency  of  coldness,  the  first  shrinking  into  self,  and  from 
the  outgivings  of  divine  use,  all  of  the  text  applies  as  with  the 
sound  of  a  trumpet,  as  with  the  alarm  at  midnight :  "  Be 
watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,  that  are 
ready  to  die  :  for  I  have  not  found  thy  words  perfect  before 
God." 

629.  That  true  and  faithful  wife  who  has  been  led  into  the 
new  creation,  and  established  in  its  glorious  harmonies,  with- 
out the  conspiration  of  her  married  partner,  may  minister  to 
him  as  follows  : — Through  the  Woman^s  Word  which  is  formed 
within  her,  provided  there  is  a  negativeness  and  passiveness 
on  his  part,  a  willingness  to  be  guided  by  the  Lord,  through  her, 
there  is  first  led  into  his  frame  a  series  of  revolving  breaths. 
These  do  not  at  first  bring  about  open  respiration ;  they  may 
be  in  the  frame  unsuspected  by  him.     Their  fii-st  and  direct 


SEC.  628—631.]         TSF.    JFOCALYFSU.  349 


tendency  is  to  extirpate  scortatory  de.sire ;  tliey  inundate  the 
lower  brainj  where  the  scortatory  passions  dwell_,  and  thence 
diffuse  themselves  into  the  organs  of  the  higher  brain,  where 
myriads  of  thoughts  pertaining  to  these  passions  have  their 
hold ;  they  take  their  places  in  the  centres,  where  food,  throuo-h 
the  gastric  juice,  the  blood  and  the  nervous  elements,  is  trans- 
formed into  the  passional  virus  ;  they  neutralize  that  virus,  till 
gradually  the  man,  if  good,  begins  to  hate  and  detest  all  pas- 
sional impurities. 

630.  In  these  advances  there  are  variations,  dependent  on 
individual  peculiarities.  Through  the  Woman^s  Word,  in  the 
organism  of  the  wife,  its  virginal  sense  is  first  unfolded  in 
the  male  organism.  The  gospel  is  preached  in  spirit,  in  the 
midst  of  his  determinations  and  affections,  in  the  midst  of  his 
appetites  and  passions.  The  gospel  is  diffused.  The  principles 
from  the  Word  thus  unfolded  are  spirit  and  life.  The  perfect 
wife  in  God  through  this  process  may  see  the  depraved  pas- 
sional instincts  of  her  husband  reduced  to  perfect  quiescence. 
Afterward,  by  the  unfolding  in  him  through  her  of  her  Word^s 
marital  sense,  he  may  be  led  on  to  marital  states,  which 
are  conjugial,  the  arcana  concerning  which  belong  purely  to 
the  Sisterhood  of  the  New  Life.  She  being  one  in  the  purity 
and  solidarity  of  the  sisterhood,  and  in  the  common  possession 
of  the  Woman's  Word,  as  her  husband's  breath  begins  to  be 
opened  through  the  pivotal-radiative  chief  of  series,  gives  her 
being  into  the  bosom  of  her  companion. 

631.  Ten  years  of  organic  change  and  growth,  of  quicken- 
ing and  rehabilitation,  of  purifying  and  of  transformation,  under 
very  high  conditions  may  be  condensed  into  one ;  so  imperial 
womanhood  leads  up  the  man,  to  whom  she  is  conjoined,  to  a 
crowning  with  the  crown  of  life.  The  husband  is  to  under- 
stand in  such  cases,  that  these  organic  transformations  are 
effected  in  a  large  degree  through  the  wife's  nobility  and 
purity.  He  is  to  watch  himself  with  unsleeping  vigilance. 
The  forms  of  the  new  creation  that  are  within  him  may  recede 
or  be  destroyed  should  he  give  way  to  evil.  To  him  also  is  the 
message  "  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which  re- 
main, that  are  ready  to  die."  To  him,  if  there  be  holding 
back  from  the  fulness  of  purity  and  the  perfection  of  use. 


350  ARCANA   OF  CHBISTIANITT.       [chap.  in. 

comes  also  tlic   alarming  declaration,   "  I  have  not  found  tliy 
works  perfect  before  God.'' 

632.  The  infolded  breaths  which  precede  open  respiration 
are  also  led  forth  from  those  in  the  new  creation  and  its  har- 
monies, in  obedience  to  the  law  of  sympathy,  where  friendships 
exist  wholly  in  the  Lord.  Much  here  is  of  great  importance  ; 
dangers  must  be  known  in  order  for  their  avoidance,  and  the 
line  for  new  life  action  traced  out  with  extreme  precision. 
From  friendships  which  exist  upon  the  old  grounds,  the  result 
of  former  relations  and  intimacies,  there  are  times  when  the 
heart  seems  bursting  \nt\i  excess  of  love,  and  the  desire  for 
the  redemption  of  such  cherished  intimates  is  almost  resistless. 
Wliy  should  this  yearning,  constraining  desire  exist,  and  yet 
the  manifestation  of  it  be  forbidden  ?  The  reason  is  plain  ; 
God  the  Redeemer,  in  the  new  life  carries  on  the  redemptive 
process,  so  far  as  bodily  transformations,  bodily  purifications 
are  concerned,  in  and  through  a  special  operation  from  Himself, 
secreting  the  substances  that  are  made  use  of  in  redemption 
in  the  bodies  of  His  willing  people.  Is  one  yearning  for  the 
bodily  sanctification  of  another  ?  That  yearning  proceeds 
from  an  affection,  embodied  and  made  known  as  a  sensation. 
Elements  are  b^ing  matured  within  the  person,  destined  event- 
ually to  go  forth  beyond  it,  gathered  up  into  unity  to  be 
separated  from  the  body,  and  to  be  carried  whithersoever  the 
Lord  wills. 

633.  The  only  mistake  arises  from  the  fact  that  thought 
travels  on  the  lines  of  old  association.  It  is  difficult  at  first  to 
disentangle  the  remains  of  the  old  mentality  from  the  begin- 
nings of  the  new  mentality.  The  images  of  friends  are  im- 
printed in  the  sensorium.  As  the  tides  of  the  new  formed 
elements  of  life  rise  within  the  bosom,  the  images  of  the  old 
friendships  are  revived,  and  the  divine  yearning  is  hardly  to 
be  restrained  from  flowing  forth  to  such  specific  ends.  But 
as  the  remains  of  the  old  mentality  are  removed,  the  yearning 
exists  without  giving  rise  to  such  impressions  and  desu'es. 
The  life  currents  flow,  not  in  the  circuits  of  the  old  sympathies 
which  resulted  from  friendship  and  former  association;  they 
flow  in  new  circuits  by  a  wonderful  way.  First,  those  in  this 
order  learn  to  hold  the  sympathies ;  otherwise  the  life  wastes 


SEC.  632—635.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  351 

and  tlie  divine  elements  in  tlie  frame  are  stolen,  absorbed 
into  bodies  of  unregenerate  persons,  and  finally  made  use  of 
tlirougli  magic  and  sorcery  to  work  ruin  and  produce  death. 
The  state  has  to  be  attained  wherein,  no  matter  how  high  the 
tides  of  the  Divine  life  rise  within  one,  no  matter  how  much 
the  organism  is  filled  and  even  burdened  with  them,  no  matter 
what  seasons  and  even  years  elapse  during  which  their  pre- 
cious elements  seem  to  exist  for  no  purpose  within  the  frame, 
there  is  a  constant,  fixed  determination  that  all  shall  be  re- 
tained, not  one  atom  lost. 

634.  There  is  a  tendency  in  young  fruit-trees  to  overbear, 
and  in  the  young  of  all  creatures  to  waste  themselves  in  seed. 
It  is  by  holding  this  tendency  under  rigid  control  that  power- 
ful organisms  are  matured  in  the  natural  creation.  Strength, 
longevity,  and  harmony  are  thus  secured  in  our  Lord^s  ncAV 
creation.  We  must  not  too  rapidly  and  luxuriously  effloresce ; 
we  must  learn,  by  restraining  the  sympathies,  to  extend  the 
roots  of  the  personality,  and  enlarge  and  energise  the  solid 
trunk  of  life.  A  fruit-tree  dies  by  overbearing;  but  in  the 
new  creation  the  human  tree  perishes  if  the  precious  divine 
elements  secreted  within  the  frame  are  taken  away  from  it, 
either  before  a  fruit-bearing  condition  is  attained,  or  afterward, 
more  rapidly  than  the  organism  can  mature  these  elements  of 
virtue.  The  sick  were  healed  through  the  person  of  our  Lord 
because  virtue  went  out  from  Him.  He  breathed  upon  His  dis- 
ciples in  order  that  they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  All 
His  wondrous  works  were  the  result  of  the  outgoino-  of  Divine- 
human  life. 

635.  This  is  the  case  again  in  His  second  advent  throuo-h 
the  bodies  of  His  people.  There  is  a  zeal  for  service,  born  in 
the  beginnings  and  increased  in  all  the  growths  of  the  new 
creation.  But  this  zeal  of  service  requires  education.  The 
use  cannot  safely  proceed  till  the  love  of  it  is  united  to  the 
wisdom,  and  the  two  made  one.  Here  another  consideration 
finds  place ;  God  has  no  more  elements  in  the  world,  directly 
available  for  the  ends  of  the  new  creation,  than  those  that  are 
matured  in  the  bodies  of  its  members ;  every  atom  therefore 
of  this  new  divine-human  substance  is  of  immense  value.  We 
know  not  for  what  ends  He  is  matm-ing  these  elements  in 


352  ABCAXA    OF    CHRISTIANITT.        [chap.  iir. 

each  personality,  but  whatever  tlicse  euds  may  be,  all  must  be 
rigidly  conserved  in  order  that  the  resources  of  each  organi- 
zation may  be  at  His  command  for  any  emergency ;  the  corn 
and  oil  and  wine  undiminished.  When  He  wills  to  lead  forth 
the  breaths  filled  with  precious  increments,  that  new  organisms 
may  be  quickened  and  restored,  the  divine  yearning  is  wedded 
to  its  divine  purpose ;  a  sympathy  springs  up  that  is  wholly 
in  Him.  Then  it  is  that  He,  by  occult  methods,  gathers 
from  one  frame,  or  from  many  frames  in  the  solidarity,  such 
varieties  of  living  virtue  as  shall  be  effectual  for  the  restorative 
processes. 

636.  The  infolded  breaths  move  forth  again,  in  answer  to 
inspired  and  special  prayer.  Of  this  it  must  be  said,  that  one 
of  the  first  things  taught  in  the  new  creation  is  how  to  pray, 
and  what  to  pray  for.  We  are  taught  to  pray  for  conjugial 
purity  till  it  is  led  forth  through  the  frame  ;  then  to  pray  for 
solidarity  until  we  are  led  into  solidarity.  Through  the  first 
we  are  delivered  from  scortation,  and  through  the  second  from 
false  relations,  obstructions,  and  the  general  round  of  social 
depravities  ;  through  the  two  in  their 'conjunction  we  are  made 
living  purities,  vestal  or  marital,  and  thence  initiated  into 
those  vestal  and  marital  series  whose  members,  male  and 
female,  are  the  embodiments  of  the  purities.  These  are  the 
first  great  things  we  j)ray  for.  Becoming  the  members  of  a 
solidarity,  the  true  education  is  begun ;  it  is  only  through  edu- 
cation in  solidarity  that  the  divine  wisdom  can  take  possession 
of  us,  and  re-construct  the  organs  of  the  faculties.  The  prayers 
that  we  offer,  when  thus  led  into  series,  are  inspired  and 
special  petitions ;  the  prayer  of  the  day  is  determined  by  the 
work  of  the  day,  the  prayer  of  a  series  by  the  work  of  the 
series.  Each  is  summed  up  in  one  formula,  "  Lord,  what  wilt 
Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  '' 

637.  Prayers  offei-ed,  so  long  as  persons  are  out  of  purity  and 
solidarity,  partake  of  the  general  disease  and  incoherence  of 
the  World's  depraved  life.  Even  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  uttered 
without  specific  meaning,  with  partial  meaning,  or  with  false 
meanings.  Men,  in  their  phrase,  besiege  the  Throne  of  Grace, 
and  weary  God,  if  He  could  be  wearied,  with  endless  imj^or- 
tunities  for  the  triumph  of  their  rival  sects,  for  the  supremacy 


SEC.  636—639.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  353 

of  their  belligerent  nationalities.  The  prayers  fight  against 
each  other  on  their  way  to  the  Mercy  Seat.  Could  the  great 
majority  of  prayers  be  seen  in  their  representative  forms,  it  is 
greatly  to  be  feared  we  should  behold  serpents  instead  of  doves. 
Prayers  are  debased  by  the  corruption  of  the  religious  senti- 
ment. Genuine  prayers  among  so-called  Ckristians  are  the 
strong  cries  and  supplications  of  the  creature,  groaning  under 
the  bondage  of  corruption.  Prayers  in  the  New  Life  are  the 
thanksgiving  of  the  creature,  rising  out  of  this  bondage,  and 
simple,  honest  requests  to  be  made  use  of  as  the  Lord  wills, 
that  this  glorious  work  may  be  carried  on  for  others ;  this  is 
the  living  and  abiding  prayer. 

638.  But  there  are  times  when  it  begins  to  be  known  by 
those  who  thus  are  organized  purities,  that  the  pure  God  wills 
in  special  ways  to  lead  forth  this  kingdom  of  purity  in  other 
regions  and  to  other  peoples,  to  the  distant  or  to  the  near, 
to  those  of  their  own  type,  or  to  those  of  other  types.  In- 
stantly there  are  inspired  and  special  prayers  that  rise  concur- 
rently and  spontaneously,  and  in  the  progress  of  those  prayers 
the  prepared  substances  are  involved  into  the  breaths,  which 
become  detached  and  go  forth  as  on  the  wings  of  the  morning, 
even,  if  necessary,  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea. 

639.  Again,  the  infolded  breaths  are  led  forth  to  open  some 
specific  individual,  in  whose  organism  is  to  be  fought  some 
specific  battle  which  is  to  result  in  overcoming  certain  specific 
powers  and  plagues.  Here  we  touch  the  doctrine  of  election. 
There  are  men  in  the  world,  in  all  ages,  who  elect  from  child- 
hood to  do  certain  specific  things,  men  called  from  the  womb, 
yea,  even  from  the  initiament  into  the  womb.  Many  of  these 
doubtless  fall.  All  fall  who  do  not  accept  their  destiny  as 
a  means  for  the  deliverance  of  man,  in  that  specific  vein. 
"  Many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen ;  "  but  those  who  choose 
are  again  chosen  of  God  in  return.  In  the  age  that  is  now 
dawning,  specific  individuals  will  be  born  organically,  consti- 
tutionally, pivots  and  sub-pivots,  chiefs  of  series,  and  in  generals 
to  fill  all  the  working  posts  in  the  prospective  solidarities. 
For  instance,  youths  in  the  extreme  of  Asia,  members  of  pagan 
races,  may  be  chosen  in  this  way ;  insphercd  and  isolated, 
though  in  the  midst  of  their  fellows;  breaths  infolded  into 


354  AUGANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.        [chap.  iit. 


lungs  and  brain.  They  may  tlicn  bo  watched  over  with  un- 
tiring vigilance  day  and  night,  by  a  great  conspiration  of 
pivotal  and  respirative  forces.  When  in  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence they  are  brought  into  open,  face  to  face  communication 
with  the  members  of  the  great  affiliated  brotherhood,  it  is  dis- 
covered that  almost  all  of  the  work,  prior  to  the  opening  of 
respiration,  has  been  already  done.  They  come  as  doves  to 
their  houses.  Surely  our  "  Lord's  arm  is  not  shortened  that 
He  cannot  save.'' 

"  Surely,  surclj',  ever  onward, 

March  regenerate  mankind. 
Led  by  God  Messiah  throneward, 

To  a  Heaven  in  labour  shrined, 
rcrislied  now  the  old  traditions 

Of  the  death  shot  and  the  sword : 
Answered  now  the  world's  petitions. 

In  humanity  restored." 

640.  But  the  mercies  of  our  God  move  forth  as  a  winged 
throne,  out  of  the  midst  of  which  proceed  the  lightnings  and 
the  thunderings  of  the  judgments ;  and  before  this  throne  are 
the  armies  of  the  breaths,  which  enter  into  men  and  nations 
as  a  preparation  for  judgments.      I  saw  a  man  in  England,  in 
the  year  1860,  in  whom  one  of  these  preparatory  breaths  was 
infolded ;  he  was  powerful,  subtle,  worldly  wise,  and  wielded 
at  his  will  an  enormous  aggregate  of  influences.      The  breath 
was  infolded  into  him  ;  it  penetrated  as  a  fiery  worm  into  the 
internal  spaces   of  his  lungs;    it  finally  penetrated   a   space 
where  the  spiritual  and  natural  meet.     Instantly   one   fiery 
drop  of  condensed  force  from  the  Heavens  percolated  through 
this  opening,  and  in  forty-eight  hours  that  man  was  a  corpse. 
I  saw  another  man  given  up  to  the  vices  of  polite  society, 
and  moving  in  a  maze   and  whirl   of  pursuits,    with   kings, 
courtiers,  dij^lomafs,  and  the  literati.     An  involved  breath  was 
led  forth  into  his  lungs  also,  and  though  in  the  prime  of  life, 
after  a  season,  such  a  quickening  took  place  in  consequence, 
that  he  felt  the  internal  corruptions  of  the  imperial  centres  of 
Christendom  so  acutely  as  to  realize  that  society  is    death, 
and  civilization   a   repository   of  the    abominations   of  Hell. 
Illustrations  might  be  multiplied  here,  but  these  must  suffice. 
641.  These  infolded  breaths  go  forth  and  enter  into  men, 
penetrating  deeply  into  their  organisms,  and  at  last  making 


SEC.  640—643.]  TRE  APOCALYPSJE.  3o5 

openings  into  the  spiritual  degree  ;  tlien  comes  the  judgment. 
A  second  infolded  breath  follows^  which  is  inscribed  through- 
out with  the  processes  of  judgment.  If  that  infolded  breath 
reaches  the  inmost  place,  it  serves  as  a  natural  matrix,  which  is 
inseminated  by  raeans  of  a  single  vital  drop  let  down  through 
the  opening  into  it ;  when  this  thus  enters,  it  is  life  unto  life, 
or  death  unto  death.  If  the  man  is  found  hateful,  rebellious, 
determined  to  be  fixed  in  evil,  he  speedily  deceases.  If  he  is 
repentant,  contrite,  broken-hearted  because  of  sin,  his  old 
state  gradually  dies,  and  after  that  he  may  learn  to  respire, 
be  baptized  into  the  purities,  and  knit  into  the  solidarities. 
"  He  that  being  often  reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall 
suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy."  "  Our  God 
is  a  consuming  fire."  These  things  are  contained  in  the  signi- 
fications of  the  text,  "  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things 
which  remain,  that  are  ready  to  die ;  for  I  have  not  found  thy 
works  perfect  before  God." 

642.  The  caU  to  open  respiration  is  a  call  to  battle.  The 
man  of  the  church  in  Sardis,  from  the  beginning  of  his  breaths, 
is  in  a  peculiar  sense  a  combatant.  Chm-ch  Sardis  and  Church 
Thyatira  in  conjunction,  respire  in  direct  antagonism  to  the 
breaths  of  Lucifer.  There  is  a  particular  process  of  breath 
involution,  by  means  of  the  extension  of  which  these  combined 
churches  all  are  set  in  battle  array.  No  just  person  can  feel 
the  quality  of  this  respiration  without  being  born  again  out 
of  his  old,  into  a  new  divine  nationality.  These  churches,  by 
their  genius,  inevitably  gravitate  in  their  movements  toward  the 
centres  of  power.  This  must  be  so,  otherwise  the  inversions 
will  prevail  against  them.  Certain  statements  of  a  political 
character  must  be  inserted  here. 

643.  A  second  series  of  significances  in  the  text,  concerning 
'things  that  remain,"  pertain  to  the  vastnesses  rather  than 
the  smallnesses  of  existence.  By  ''  things  that  remain,^^  is 
signified,  the  remains  of  the  organic  forms  of  the  prime  virtues 
of  humanity,  stored  up  in  the  bosom  of  those  races  which 
Christendom  has  not  yet  entirely  defiled  and  destroyed.  There 
is  a  small  remains  in  Africa ;  but  unless  men  are  speedily 
raised  up  in  the  new  creation,  the  vices  and  disorders  of  west- 
ern civilization  threaten  to  finish  the  work  of  corruption.     It 

z  2 


356  ABC  ANA    OF   CnUISTIANITT.         [chap.  ni. 

is  a  fearful  consideration,  tliat  tliero  are  at  present  ignorant 
pagan  tribes,  in  whose  bodies  are  a  few  of  the  last  organic 
remains  of  tlie  most  ancient  Word ;  and  that  in  the  ratio  of 
the  inflowing  of  the  magnetic  stream  from  the  bosom  of  the 
so-called  Christian  society,  these  remains  are  wasted  away. 
Verily,  0  Anglo-Saxon  Cain,  the  blood  of  thine  African  bro- 
ther Abel  crieth  against  thee  from  the  ground  !  The  approach 
of  the  European  to  the  African  means  death. 

644.  But  Africa  is  more  remote  from  the  combined  churches 
under  consideration  than  Asia,  as  will  be  seen.  Wherever 
Confucianism  exists,  it  has  preserved  the  remains,  say  rather, 
the  vestiges  of  the  remains,  of  the  Word  of  the  ancient  Silver 
Age,  which  was  once  with  man.  In  the  judgment  it  will  be 
found  that  to  certain  great  truths  and  principles  of  this  ancient 
revelation,  preserved  through  tradition,  incorporated  in  philo- 
sophy, and  established  as  rules  of  poHtical  and  moral  science 
among  the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  the  world  has  been  indebted 
more  largely  than  to  all  the  boasted  results  of  modern  science 
and  invention.  It  is  not  without  reason  that  the  Confucian 
moralist  scorns  the  western  nations.  That  scorn,  however 
uncalled-for  in  many  of  its  manifestations,  however  mixed-up 
with  pride  and  self-conceit,  has  in  it  an  element  of  Divine 
justice. 

645.  But  while  the  remains  of  the  ancient  Word  thus  linger, 
those  of  the  most  ancient  Word  are  found  among  a  peculiar 
class  of  people,  and  throughout  the  east  of  Asia.  There  is 
much  more  latent  Christianity  there  than  there  is  active  Chris- 
tianity in  America  or  Europe.  There  is  even  more  latent 
Chi'istianity  in  a  large  class  of  Mahometans,  than  active  Chris- 
tianity in  any  recognised  Christian  sect.  It  is  the  direful 
thing  about  the  so-called  Christian  nations,  that  they  extir- 
pate the  last  remains  of  good  and  truth,  the  prime  virtue  of 
the  race,  the  vestiges  of  the  most  ancient  and  ancient  Words, 
the  last  concealed  and  latent  effluences  of  the  Golden  and  the 
Silver  Ages,  the  only  surviving  aromas  of  the  perished  Eden ; 
they  do  this  without  substituting  anything  beyond  the  specio- 
sities  of  Mammon,  their  god. 

646.  This  criticism  will  seem  untrue.  But  there  are  two 
classes  of  men  who  can  receive  it ;  first,  unprejudiced  dlijlo- 


SEC.  644—648.]         THE   AFOCALYPSK  357 

matS)  savants,  and  travellers,  thougli  men  of  tlie  world,  wlio 
have  lived  on  intimate  terms  witli  Turks  and  Arabs,  with 
Chinese  scholars  and  gentlemen,  with  enlightened  Parsees, 
with  the  people  of  Madagascar,  and  especially  with  the  Daimios 
and  Samari  class  of  Japan.  Here  one  learns  to  blush  for  the 
blind  stupidity  and  intolerance  of  the  sectarists.  There  are 
many  reasons  why  the  civilization  of  the  West  seems  superior 
to  that  of  the  Orient.  We  have  been  educated  in  an  entire 
misconception  as  to  the  influence  of  that  ecclesiasticism,  which 
styles  itself,  but  is  not,  Christianity.  If  it  had  not  been  for 
the  providential  rise  of  Mahometanism,  the  corruptions  of  the 
great  mother  and  universal  Church  were  becoming  so  ofiensive, 
and  spreading  so  rapidly,  that  the  moral  element  in  mankind 
was  threatened  with  annihilation.  The  morals  of  the  Saracens 
were  far  superior  to  those  of  the  Crusaders.  The  government 
of  the  Saracens  in  Spain  was,  at  one  time,  far  better  than  that 
of  any  Christian  state.  The  despised  and  scattered  Israehtes^ 
male  and  female,  as  a  rule  were  superior  in  personal  charac- 
ter, to  their  so-called  Christian  oppressors. 

647.  In  the  first  place,  the  Western  nations  were  baser  in 
their  origin  than  those  of  the  East.  It  was  the  custom  in  the 
primitive  eras,  for  the  nations  who  maintained  the  integrity  and 
purity  of  the  Golden  and  Silver  Ages,  to  banish  from  their  midst 
those  of  each  tribe  who  were  irreclaimable.  The  west  of  the 
planet  was  uninhabited,  and  the  steady  stream  of  this  corrupt 
migration  tended  westward,  pausing  only  upon  the  shores 
where  the  Atlantic  beats  against  the  Irish  coast.  The  vast 
expanses  bordering  upon  the  Danube,  the  immense  regions 
that  are  now  Germany,  France,  and  Great  Britain,  were  in- 
habited by  these  races.  These  again  were  divided  into  a  com- 
paratively inoflFensive,  and  a  brutally  savage  type  of  man. 

648.  The  typal  Cain  was  stronger  than  the  typal  Abel.  The 
evil  natural  soul  labours  most  effectually  in  the  beginnings  of 
things,  to  construct  vigorous,  athletic,  and  subtle  frames  for 
those  who  accept  corruption  as  a  fact,  and  fashion  life  in  obe- 
dience to  its  instincts.  Hence  the  powers  followed  in  the  lino 
of  the  inversions.  When  Christianity  first  began  to  be  preached, 
it  was  a  gospel  of  charity,  of  forgiveness,  of  reconciliation ; 
but  the  dogmas  rapidly  quenched  the  Spirit,  and  it  became,  m 


358  ARCANA    OF   CUBISTIANITY.        [cuAr.  iii. 

its  inversions,  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  barbaric  genius  of 
tliese  western  tribes.  It  was  congenial,  in  its  inversions,  to 
their  tliouglit.  Tlie  doctrine  of  a  sacrificial  atonement  for  sin, 
wberein  one  Deity  imolatcs  anotber.  His  equal,  yet  His  Son, 
was  a  conception  that  never  could  have  originated,  except  with 
minds  whose  thinking  organs  had  been  warped  by  the  brutish 
and  inhuman  religious  rites  of  idolatry.  Christianity,  as  adopted 
in  the  West,  was  a  religion  hybridized  between  the  words  of 
Christ,  and  the  misconceptions  of  polytheism. 

649.  Christianity  took  its  firmest  hold  with  the  races  in 
whose  interiors  the  last  remains  of  the  more  ancient  Words  had 
been  swept  away ;  men  whose  fathers  were  the  expelled  con- 
victs of  the  East ;  men  who  had  rioted  in  the  forests  as  barba- 
rians; men  who  laid  the  foundation  of  their  civilization  by 
bursting  from  their  fastnesses  and  entering  into  the  possession 
of  the  conquered  territories  of  the  decayed  Koman  empire. 
The  ages  of  stone  and  of  iron  exist  as  latencies  embosomed 
in  the  sects.  Sti'ip  a  so-called  Christian  of  Christendom,  and 
when  his  skin  is  removed  there  is  found  the  painted,  idol-wor- 
shipping barbarian ;  in  other  words,  call  out  the  interiors  of 
men,  and  we  do  not  evoke  the  genius  of  the  Golden  Age ; 
what  comes  forth  is  a  monster  clad  in  skins,  and  armed  with 
the  bloody  mace.  The  Word  is  yet  misunderstood  and  unre- 
vealed, because  Christendom  has  never  been  Christianized;  it  has 
been  a  wilderness,  with  here  and  there  an  opening,  a  morass, 
with  isolated  islands  in  the  midst  of  its  quagmires. 

650.  Christianity  produces  one  of  two  results :  if  taken 
merely  into  the  intellect  as  a  system,  it  developes  the  brain  at 
the  expense  of  the  heart ;  if  taken  into  the  mere  imaginative, 
gesthetic,  artistic  faculties,  it  developes  verbal,  ^^ictorial,  archi- 
tectural beauty.  If  taken  as  a  system  of  salvation,  to  be 
wrought  out  through  allegiance  to  a  sect,  it  calls  forth,  in  con- 
nection with  sectarian  enterprise,  political  and  administrative 
ability.  In  a  word,  it  is  stimulation,  activity,  the  end  of  re- 
pose ;  this  may  be  the  activity  of  Heaven  or  the  activity  of 
Hell.  But  Christianity  fell  into  the  control  of  ecclesiastics, 
and  they  corrupted,  still  more,  the  forming  nations  of  half- 
civilized  savages,  by  certain  specific  falsehoods;  first,  that 
God  was  their   God,  their   Sa\dour,  but  the  infinite  enemy  of 


.BEC.  649—652.]         THE   JPOCALYPSE.  359 

the  so-called  pagan  people ;  and  second,  tliat  tliis  God  liad 
given  to  the  Christian  the  pagan,  as  a  lawful  prey,  and  his 
lands  and  properties  as  a  lawful  possession.  So  it  passed  into 
a  maxim  of  state  policy,  that  if  a  Christian  nation  discovered 
an  unexplored  part  of  the  world,  priority  of  discovery  con- 
ferred absolute  dominion.  The  common  idea  which  the  self- 
styled  Christians  have  entertained,  of  those  whom  they  call 
pagans  and  idolators,  has  been  that  they  were  hastening  en 
masse  to  eternal  damnation.  The  pharisaism  of  the  Jew  was 
limited  and  local,  but  that  of  the  Christian  was  universal. 
These  ideas  have  penetrated  everywhere.  Types  of  character, 
qualities  of  mind,  have  been  formed  under  their  influence. 

651.  Christendom  is  omnivorous,  all-grasping,  all-conquer- 
ing. The  last  descendants  of  the  outcasts,  driven  to  the  West, 
are  revenging  their  expulsion  from  the  ancient  Orient  upon 
the  children  of  the  just,  who  banished  them  so  far.  There  is 
something  magnificent  as  well  as  terrible  in  this  appropriation 
of  the  East ;  the  iron-clads  go  first  like  floating  war  eagles  to 
smite  the  living  victim ;  the  trade  ships  follow  as  clouds  of 
carrion  vultures,  to  feast  upon  the  fragments  of  the  corse. 
The  ruin  of  the  Orient,  so  far  as  its  ancient  order  is  concerned, 
is  a  thing  accomplished;  and  all  the  pretences  about  civiliza- 
tion, Christianization,  are  so  many  decoy  words  used  to  drug 
the  conscience,  while  the  wasting  is  carried  on.  It  was  with 
this  pretence  that  Spain  exthpated  the  American  races. 
With  this  pretext,  in  our  own  time,  divines  and  statesmen, 
rulers  of  society,  have  defended  the  exploitation  of  Africa, 
slavery,  and  the  slave  trade.  By  this  pretext  the  Russian 
justifies  yearly  appropriations  of  provinces,  till  now  he  stands 
with  one  hand  over  Pekin,  and  the  other  over  Constantinople. 
Our  misfortune  is  that  we  can  see  crimes  as  they  are,  when 
committed  by  our  fathers  or  by  foreign  nations,  but  cannot 
see  them  when  perpetrated  by  ourselves.  There  is  no  public 
conscience.  If  a  man  steals  the  purse  of  his  fellow,  there  is  a 
prison ;  but  if  a  nation  appropriates  the  possessions  of  a  na- 
tion, there  is  glory  and  renown. 

652.  The  nations  who  possess  the  remains  of  the  Word^in 
their  interiors,  are  being  destroyed  by  those  in  whose  interiors 
the  Word  has  no  place.     The   situation  is  full  of  anomaHes. 


360  ARCANA    OF    CRRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

The  peoples  who  have  most  of  Christ  subjectively^  know  least 
of  Him  objectively.  The  peoples  most  decidedly  antagouist- 
ical  to  Christ,  most  organized  against  Christ,  most  engaged  in 
the  destruction  of  all  that  pertains  to  Christ,  are  the  peoples 
who  dogmatically  profess  Christ.  Tlie  nations  who  go  forth 
with  the  written  Word  in  their  hands,  are  those  who  destroy 
the  last  remains  of  the  Word,  whether  extant  in  the  private 
virtues  of  men  or  the  public  equity  of  nations.  By  conse- 
quence equilibrium  is  destroyed;  thei'e  is  no  longer  an  adjust- 
ment of  forces.  Wliat  is  required  for  the  salvation  of  men  is 
to  restore  this  equihbrium ;  and  this  is  what  is  signified  in  the 
text  which  speaks  of  strengthening  the  remains. 

653.  By  this  is  to  be  understood,  that  through  the  new  har- 
mony of  our  God,  means  must  be  provided  through  which 
those  nations  who  possess  the  remains  of  the  Word  in  their 
interiors,  shall  receive  the  knowledge  of  the  Word  as  it  was 
with  their  fathers ;  this  knowledge  being  explained  to  them 
rationally  and  demonstrated  by  open  respiration.  Thus  also 
it  means,  that  the  things  which  are  ready  to  perish,  the  things 
of  Christ  and  of  the  prime  virtue  of  the  race,  stored  up  in  their 
interiors,  shall  be  conserved  from  destruction  and  vivified. 
Thus  again  it  means,  that  the  same  things  preserved  in  frag- 
ments, as  scattered  truths  of  morality  and  pubhc  policy  through- 
out the  Orient,  which  are  the  ultimate  remains  of  ancient  wis- 
dom and  vii'tue,  shall  be  saved  from  perishing  in  the  same 
way.  These  are  not  old  bottles,  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
traditions  and  customs  of  Christendom  are,  they  are  the  shat- 
tered fragments  of  the  cup  that  held  the  golden  wine  of 
the  primitive  creation ;  and  the  fragments  must  be  gathered 
up  that  God  may  restore  them  to  their  unity.  It  also  means 
that  the  tribes  and  nationalities  themselves,  that  are  ready  to 
perish  from  the  inroads  of  Christendom,  must  be  preserved. 
Christendom  must  be  resisted  in  every  manner  in  its  approaches 
to  the  East,  and  to  the  peoples  that  yet  hold  out  against  its 
influence.     The  methods  of  defence  are  treated  of  elsewhere. 

654.  Church  Sardis,  in  connection  with  Thyatira,  contains 
all  of  the  specific  qualities  sufiicient  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
Orient.  The  exhortation  to  "  strengthen  the  things  that  re- 
main," is  addressed  especially  to  Sardis,  because  in  her  bosom 


SEC.  653—656.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  361 

are  tlie  breatlis  of  battle  continued  into  ultimations,  and  gi\ano* 
military  skill,  vigour,  and  determination.  Wlien  tlie  first  open 
breathing  host,  from  among  the  Children  of  the  East,  in  God's 
new  creation,  meets  the  brutal  and  licentious,  though  perfectly 
drilled,  armed,  and  ofiicered  soldiery  of  the  self-styled  Chris- 
tendom, it  will  be  demonstrated  that  there  is  a  Power  which 
in  its  conquests  will  arrest  the  progress  of  the  enemy  who  re- 
moves the  ancient  remains  of  righteousness.  Here  is  found 
the  open  way  of  dehverance  for  Madagascar  and  Siam,  for 
China,  and  for  the  Japanese  Isles ;  the  power  that  can  re-or- 
ganize India,  after  such  a  time  as  Great  Britain  is  no  longer  able 
to  coerce  its  peoples  to  her  rule.  Here,  finally,  is  the  power 
that  by  results  must  demonstrate  to  the  nations  of  Christen- 
dom, that  their  religious  hope  is  delusion,  since  they  are 
neither  the  benefactors  of  humanity,  nor  the  agents  of  the 
Divine  Purpose.  Here  is  the  power  that  must  turn  back  the 
streams  of  a  corrupt  civilization  upon  itself,  till  the  scorpion 
stings  itself  to  death. 

655.  The  power  by  which  Christendom  stings  to  death  the 
nations  of  the  world,  is  dependent  wholly  on  closed  respira- 
tion. Its  nations  are  organized  in  potencies  wholly  in  and  of 
the  closed  state  of  man.  By  closed  respiration  its  diplomats 
.deceive  and  intrigue,  its  mechanics  construct,  its  adventurers 
carry  on  commerce,  its  artists  produce  works  of  luxury  and 
display,  vailing  corruption  with  magnificence,  its  armies  and 
navies  are  enlisted,  and  organized,  and  made  humanly  omni- 
potent against  the  eastern  races.  With  closed  respiration  they 
are  the  positive  power  magnetically,  and  hence  the  subduing 
power.  The  Asiatic  is  clasped  in  the  embrace  of  the  European, 
as  the  child  is  enveloped  in  the  folds  of  the  boa  constrictor. 
So  abandoned  internally  are  the  ruling  elements  of  the  West, 
that  the  process  by  which  a  new  diplomacy,  with  armies  and 
navies  for  its  service,  can  be  ultimated,  must  be  very  slow.  The 
Ithuriel  spear  of  a  Divine  respu^ation  penetrates  the  breast  of 
Christendom,  and  upstarts  the  couchant  devil.  The  demons 
in  the  collective  Hfe  of  Christendom  can  only  be  cast  out 
through  rending  tlu-oes. 

656.  With  open  respiration  the  balance  of  power  must  bo 
with  the  Orient  in  due  time,  because  the  nations  of  the  East 


3G2  AECAJ^A    OF   CnBISTIANITT.       [chap.  in. 

are  moro  easy  to  bo  dispossessed.  Localities  are  to  be  found 
Avliere  seven-eighths  of  the  inliabitants  of  towns  and  rural  dis- 
tricts, would  rapidly  flow,  through  open  respiration,  both  into 
the  service  of  Christ  and  the  fraternity  of  virtue,  and  embody 
the  divine  purity  and  be  embodied  in  its  solidarity.  But  it  is 
hard  to  find  a  European  hamlet  where  one  in  ten,  or  one  in  fifty, 
is  organically  suited  for  change  into  these  better  conditions. 
Again,  Christendom,  as  has  been  shown,  is  extended  in  one 
continuous  degree  of  self-service;  that  is,  of  demonolatry; 
and  by  the  insatiable  lusts  of  this  demonolatry  is  extending  its 
continuous  degree  to  fill  the  world.  So  long  as  its  diploma- 
tists do  not  intrigue  against  each  other,  they  possess  a 
collective  power  in  the  sphere;  they  are  Christendom's  lying 
lips.  So  long  as  commercial  and  other  adventurers  act  in  that 
degree  of  concert  which  selfish  competition  allows,  they  are 
Christendom's  devouring  jaws ;  so  long  as  its  armies  act  in 
harmony  of  purpose,  they  are  Christendom's  murderous  hand. 
All  this  power  is  in  the  closed  breath,  and  is  dependent  upon  it. 

657.  If  the  diplomat  comes  into  open  respiration,  to  nego- 
tiate treaties  in  behalf  of  Christendom  will  cause  him  to  drop 
dead.  If  adventurous  commercial  men  become  converted  and 
openly  respire, — though  this  is  almost  impossible, — all  their 
sagacity  and  experience  will  henceforth  be  devoted  to  the  ar- 
restation  of  those  robberies  by  which-  Europe  and  America 
defraud  the  East.  The  nests  of  plausible  schemers  at  Hong 
Kong  and  Yokohama  will  cease  to  remit  golden  spoil  to  their 
confederates  in  New  York  and  London.  When  the  man  at 
arms,  in  the  service  of  these  great  freebooting  races,  is  thus 
visited  of  God,  he  will  no  longer  serve  under  the  tricolour,  the 
stars  and  stripes,  or  the  bloody  cross,  exce^Dt  as  those  banners 
are  unfurled  above  the  hosts  of  the  Divine  Humanity. 

658.  All  open  respiring  soldieries  are  one  soldiery,  as  all 
open  respiring  peoples  are  one  solidarity.  Hence  should  even 
a  weak  and  obscure  people,  in  the  combined  breath  of  Sardis 
and  Thyatira,  accept  the  Lord  for  its  God,  and  His  will  for  its 
collective  statutes,  whoever  is  most  skilled  of  God's  servants 
in  the  practices  and  in  the  wiles  of  courts,  whoever  is  most 
versed  in  the  intricacies  and  subtleties  of  commerce,  who- 
ever is    most    proficient    in   the    profession  of  arms,  and  in 


.SEC.  657—659.]         THi:   APOCALYPSE.  363 

tlie  use  of  warlike  implements^  moved  as  one  man  tlirougli 
open  respiration^  and  filled  with  the  fiery  embattled  ardours  of 
that  respiration,  its  strengths,  its  wisdom,  and  its  loves,  will 
there  be  found,  breathing  in  unison,  and  clasping  in  solidarity 
each  new  formed  brotherhood,  each  infantile  society.  Thus 
the  very  elect  of  earth*  s  real  chivalry  and  nobility,  the  very 
flower  of  all  its  courtesy,  and  sweetness  of  its  purity,  and  ripe- 
ness of  its  regeneration,  will  be  concentred  in  time  of  need. 
Then  it  shall  be  said  concerning  the  aggressive  and  belligerent 
races  of  Christendom,  "  Why  do  the  Heathen  rage,  and  the 
people  imagine  a  vain  thing  ?  the  kings  of  the  earth  set  them- 
selves, and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together  against  the  Lord 
and  against  His  anointed,  saying.  Let  us  break  their  bands 
asunder,  and  cast  away  their  cords  from  us."  Then,  too,  it 
shall  be  said,  "  He  that  sitteth  in  the  Heavens  shall  laugh : 
the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision."  The  dynamic  forces  of 
Christianity  will  thus  be  arrayed  through  open  respiration 
against  the  great  national  apostasies ;  not,  however,  as  armies 
of  invasion,  but  armies  of  defence. 

659.  It  is  written,  "  My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with 
man."  There  comes  a  period  when  the  individual,  having 
confirmed  himself  in  evil,  and  being  utterly  insensible  to  the 
Divine  appeal,  is  striven  with  by  Him  no  more.  While  this  con- 
tinues, men,  though  deep  sunken  in  ungodliness,  are  encom- 
passed with  such  surroundings,  as,  if  they  were  visible,  would 
overwhelm  the  mind  with  their  terrible  magnificence.  There 
are  emanations  and  radiations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  play 
about  the  frame  with  a  wind,  and  encompass  it  with  a  mantle. 
There  are  moments  when  the  frame  is  clasped  from  without 
with  moving  radiances  of  God,  high  and  solemn  visitations. 
Now  what  is  tru§  of  the  individual  is  true  of  Christendom  as  a 
unity.  God  has  one  way  of  visiting  Islamism ;  another  way 
with  idolaters.  His  mode  of  appearing  in  the  midst  of  the 
Christian  nations  is  wholly  difierent  from  these.  Through  the 
sphere  which  is  diffused  out  of  the  Written  Word,  there  spreads 
a  sea  of  Divine  aromal  light,  a  vitahsing  substance.  Chris- 
tendom is  literally  in  the  midst  of  continuous  series  of  angelic 
societies,  because,  through  the  written  Word,  the  life  of  Heaven 
is  diffused.     But  this  life,  which  has  been  so  long  the  property 


3G1  ABCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITY.        [ciiap.  hi. 

of  Cliristiau  uations,  is  unappropriated  by  tlicm.  They  receive 
it  as  a  means  for  intellectual  stimulation ;  it  leads,  as  it  is 
diffused  tlirougli  the  spaces  of  the  intellect,,  to  vast  material 
discoveries ;  it  thus  lifts  them  to  a  dominant  eminence  above 
all  other  peoples,  enthrones  them  in  the  centres  of  the  powers, 
and  enables  them  to  pursue  their  career  of  conquest  and 
aggrandisement. 

GGO.  But  the  Spirit  does  not  always  strive  with  nations. 
After  a  season  they  are  given  over  to  destruction ;  as  was  the 
case  with  Palestine.  Truth,  received  in  the  intellect  alone, 
produces  a  secret  insanity  in  the  will,  that  manifests  itself  by 
an  infernal  pride,  which  in  a  nation,  as  it  rises  up  and  becomes 
insufferable  and  unbearable,  is  the  sure  precursor  of  its  over- 
throw. "Pride  goeth  before  destruction,  and  a  haughty 
spirit  before  a  fall."  The  will  is  in  the  form  of  its  concuiTcnt 
affections  ;  so  the  will  of  a  nation  is  in  the  form  of  its  concur- 
rent affections.  As  is  the  form  of  the  national  will,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  national  understanding,  so  will  be  the  forms  of  its 
ruling  powers.  For  motives,  instincts,  desires,  appetites,  and 
determinations  in  the  organism  of  the  individual,  there  are 
classes  and  congeries  of  men  in  whom  these  things  are  em- 
bodied and  enforced  upon  a  universal  scale. 

661.  The  individual,  through  the  form  of  the  corrupt  will, 
generates  perpetual  miasms  in  the  body;  but  the  national 
will,  when  corrupt,  saturates  the  invisible  spaces  of  earth,  air, 
and  waters  with  deadly  plagues.  It  is  this  terrible  law,  grow- 
ing inevitably  out  of  the  fixed  constitution  of  the  universe, 
which  gives  to  evil  in  its  earlier  national  stages  such  terrific 
powers,  but  which  nevertheless  fixes  the  ruin  of  all  such 
peoples  as,  being  unrepentant,  suffer  themselves  to  act  as 
asrents  of  crime.  The  forms  of  the  will,  which  at  first  are 
plastic,  tend  to  rigidity,  and  when  this  becomes  constitutional, 
whether  with  the  man  or  the  nation,  fiendhood  is  the  next 
result.  But  the  collective  will,  in  its  national  form,  detaches 
elements,  which,  instead  of  moving  as  clouds  in  the  electrical 
expanse,  put  on  at  last  the  specific  images  of  the  affections,  of 
which  they  were  the  outbirths.  Thus,  at  the  present  time, 
Christendom  has  detached  from  itself,  and  organized  in  the 
pure  nature,  an  infernal  creation  in  first  principles. 


SEC.  660—664.]  TSE   APOOALYPSK  3G5 

662.  "WTiatever  is  true  of  tlie  processes  whereby  nations, 
tlii'ougli  regeneration^  become  angelhoods^  inversely  describes 
the  processes  whereby  nations  through  depravities  become 
fiendhoods.  Now,  with  the  Jews,  Christianity  was  a  separat- 
ing element,  which  abstracted  from  Jerusalem  those  accessible 
to  Divine  influences,  and  left  the  rest  to  their  own  devices. 
The  Spirit  of  God,  though  infinite  and  though  infinitely  present 
everywhere,  is  latently  present  or  actively  so,  with  innumerable 
degrees  of  latency  and  activity.  There  is  a  more  or  less  of 
the  Divine  activity  with  every  man,  with  every  nation,  and 
this  varies  with  every  human  state.  For  generations  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  Christendom  has  been  less  latent  than  elsewhere 
throughout  the  world;  there  has  been  a  striving  with  the 
public  mind  and  heart;  but  though  the  religious  sentiment' 
has  been  intensified,  it  has  also  been  corrupted.  Gradually  the 
balance  is  lost ;  the  masses  shde  out  of  belief  into  indifference ; 
men  revive  ceremonies  and  seek  to  call  up  the  ghost  of  the 
dead  past  from  its  grave  ;  they  garnish  thus  the  sepulchres  of 
the  prophets,  from  a  dumb  instinct,  that,  when  the  forms  of 
the  faith  have  perished,  the  Spirit  will  not  long  remain. 

663.  The  prevalence  of  the  true  religious  sentiment  among 
closed  nations  is  determined  by  the  prevalence  of  charity, 
and  by  a  general  and  concurrent  honesty.  When  public  con- 
fidence is  lost  between  man  and  man,  and  a  spirit  of  dishonesty 
prevails  in  trade,  the  religion  of  that  people  is  in  its  last  decay. 
Nevertheless,  as  there  are  remains  of  good,  forms  of  living 
virtue,  organically  stored  up  in  the  bodies  and  spirits  of  men 
who  are  becoming  fiend-like,  so  there  are  small  classes  of  men 
and  women,  where  a  country  or  a  family  of  nations  like 
Christendom,  is  becoming  past  contrition,  and  therefore  past 
hope.  To  preserve  the  "  things  that  remain,  that  are  ready  to 
die,''  signifies  again,  a  conservative  power,  in  the  last  stages 
of  the  moral  life  of  Christendom,  put  forth  through  open 
respiration  by  Church  Sardis  in  conjunction  with  Thyatira,  for 
the  purpose  of  preserving  these  feeble  remnants,  these  last 
vestiges  of  Christ,  which  survive  in  the  midst  of  the  decay. 

6Q4:.  To  "  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,  that  are 
ready  to  die,''  signifies  again,  that  the  church  in  Sardis,  in 
conjunction  with  the  others,  preserves  the  last  vestiges  of  what- 


3G6  ABC  AN  A    OF  CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  m. 

ever  survives  throughout  Christendom  of  good  co-operative 
works,  whether  of  au  industrial  or  a  religious  character.  AVith 
the  extension  of  the  area  of  rational  freedom  and  the  quicken- 
ing of  man's  intelligence  by  means  of  liberty,  individuals 
and  classes  have  struggled  for  the  inauguration  of  certain 
fragments  of  divine  principles  into  the  affairs  of  life.  The 
good  and  evil  are  strangely  intermingled.  There  are  merchants 
who,  by  a  certain  preliminary  quickening,  are  morally  at  war 
with  the  competitive  principles  of  trade.  Like  the  Israelites 
in  bondage  to  the  Egyptians,  they  nourish  in  their  hearts 
hatred  of  the  system  which  uses  them  for  its  services.  Capi- 
taHsts,  members  of  the  plutocratic  hierarchy,  loathe  the  labour 
system  which  knits  up  all  classes  into  composite  slavery. 
Professional  men  despise  the  conditions  under  which  clergy- 
men minister  to  souls,  and  physicians  to  bodies,  and  barristers 
and  judges  plead  in  the  courts,  and  sit  in  judgment  on  cases 
of  life  and  property. 

665.  There  are  members  of  all  aristocracies  who  hunger  and 
thirst  for  social  enfranchisement,  and  artisans  of  every  species 
who  yearn  for  a  divine  system  of  labour  and  of  recompense. 
Here  and  there  is  a  statesman  or  diplomatist  who  pants  for  the 
inauguration  of  governmental  harmonies.  There  are  inventors 
who  long  that  their  discoveries  shall  inure  to  the  benefit  of 
the  overtasked  masses.  Soldiers  may'  be  found,  who  would 
gladly  be  enrolled  in  the  ranks  of  a  chivalry  of  righteousness. 
So  in  the  opposite  sex,  the  heart  of  womanhood,  so  far  as 
regenerate,  is  almost  bursting  with  an  influx  which,  under  the 
fixed  inversive  institutions,  it  is  unable  to  embody.  There  are 
germs  of  reforms,  fragments  of  discoveries,  of  which  no  man 
knows  their  number,  value  and  potency,  everywhere  latent, 
everywhere  struggling,  everywhere  suppressed.  There  is  an 
element  of  capital,  that  longs  to  pour  itself  at  the  Lord's  feet ; 
of  invention  that  craves  to  consecrate  to  Him  its  discoveries ; 
of  philanthropy  that  would  devote  itself  to  the  permanent 
estabhshment  of  His  dominion.  These  are  Hke  the  remaining 
virtues  that  feebly  contest  the  ground  in  personalities  that 
are  rapidly  becoming  confirmed  in  evil.  In  due  time,  the  new 
types  of  humanity,  through  the  intellectual  natural  principle, 
find  access  to  struggling  men  and  women,  and  to  the  valuable 


SEC.  665—667.]         TRE   APOCALTPBE.  3G7 

tilings  of  liuman  use  of  wliicli  tliey  are  tlie  exponents  and  tlie 
executives.  So  by  degrees  the  Divine  Providence,  winnowing 
tlie  Christian  world  by  its  breath,  separates  the  wheat  from 
the  chaff.  The  wheat  for  the  garner,  the  chaff  for  the  quench- 
less fire. 

QQQ.  Here  the  man  of  this  type  must  move  with  guarded 
discretion.  "Be  watchful,"  signifies,  again,  that  the  man  of 
the  church  in  Sardis  is  especially  liable  to  an  arrest  and  sus- 
pension of  the  new  respiration,  as  it  first  descends.  "And 
strengthen  the  things  which  remain,"  signifies,  that  nerving 
himself  up  in  the  divine  might,  he  must  force  the  resistant 
breaths  to  recede  which  rise  up  to  invade  the  natural  lungs, 
and  through  which  the  Hells  endeavour  to  produce  suffocation, 
driving  them  down  to  their  own  place.  He  will  be  perfectly 
conscious,  as  the  state  goes  on,  of  an  attempt  to  induce 
respiration  in  him  from  Pandemonium.  It  will  seem  sensa- 
tionally as  if  winds  were  striving  to  enter  him  through  the 
lower  abdomen,  and  seeking  to  inflate  a  vast  unknown  visceral 
system  co-extensive  with  all  the  lower  bowels ;  it  will  dart 
as  fire  from  Hell  into  the  organs  of  the  generative  system, 
wherein  scortations  will  endeavour  to  assert  their  sway.  The 
normal  action  of  the  liver,  spleen,  alimentary  canal,  and  also 
of  the  greater  and  lesser  stomach  will  be  exposed  to  interrup- 
tions of  a  serious  character. 

667.  It  is  in  the  organs  that  the  battle  will  be  fought,  organ 
by  organ.  Within  the  aromal  structure  of  the  diaphragm  a 
series  of  respiratory  tubes  exist,  unknown  to  the  external 
scientist,  through  which,  as  through  ducts,  aerial  currents 
descend  into  the  whole  body  and  aerate  the  cells.  If  these 
ducts  fall  into  the  control  of  the  demons  through  the  breaths 
which  they  project  from  below,  death  ensues,  or  idiocy. 
Death  when  the  respiration. is  opened  to  the  Spiritual  Heaven, 
idiocy  when  it  is  opened  to  the  Celestial  Heaven.  These 
ducts  are  guarded  through  continual  air  currents  playing  in 
and  about  them  from  the  Ultimate  Heaven.  They,  are  seven 
in  number,  and  the  softest  sensational  harmonies  exquisitely 
permeate  them,  when  regeneration  is  complete.  There  are 
crises  during  which  deep  inbred  evils  are  stirred  by  the  influent 
divine  breath,  and  when  they  rage  like  hungry  beasts  to  tear 


368  ABCANA   OF  CnBISTIANITY.        [chap.  tit. 

to  pieces  the  now  mnii ;  tlioy  cannot  pass  the  guarded  region 
of  tlie  ducts,  unless  tlio  respiring  person  is  gviilty  of  dis- 
obedience. "And  strengthen  the  things  which  remain/' 
signifies,  the  acts  of  incessant  obedience,  by  means  of  which 
these  ducts  are  kept  open  for  the  Divine  operation.  They  are 
said  to  "  remain/'  because  they  exist  in  the  aromal  organiza- 
tion of  the  body  from  the  ancient  Eden  state.  The  disease 
called  diaphragmatis,  is  often  an  attempt  of  demons  to  control 
them.  There  is  in  fact  an  electro-nervous  diaphragm  in  which 
these  exist.  "  That  are  ready  to  die/'  signifies,  their  perish- 
able condition. 

668.  "  For  I  have  not  found  thy  works  perfect  before  God." 
The  new  age  is  established  first  among  the  sufi'ering,  the  weak, 
the  downtrodden  members  of  the  human  family ;  to  this  the 
exceptions  are  very  few.  It  requires  a  discipline  that  racks 
the  heart  and  that  destroys  the  inherited  evil  confidence  of 
man  in  himself,  the  experience  that  convicts  the  soul  of  sin 
in  its  inmost  parts,  that  reveals  the  whole  world  to  be  guilty 
before  God,  the  humbling  knowledge  that  we  have  all  gone 
astray,  and  that  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no  not  one. 
It  requires,  further,  the  knowledge  that  existing  religious  insti- 
tutions are  unable  to  assist  the  spirit  in  its  extreme  state ; 
that  unless  the  Lord  helps,  man  must  perish.  The  gay  illusions 
of  the  senses,  the  tapestry-tissues  that  hide  the  assassins  who 
infest  society,  must  be  seen  through.  Moreover,  a  state  must 
exist  within  the  will,  of  willingness  to  become  Christ's  servant 
in  all  things,  to  have  Him  for  sole  ruler,  sole  actuator.  The 
feeling  of  the  soul  is.  Give  me  Christ  or  I  die.  The  hidden 
will  pants  for  its  life  till  He  come. 

669.  The  Lord  examines  a  man  at  this  period  through  ex- 
amining angels,  and  he  is  stripped  bare  of  disguises  in  the 
light  of  Heaven.  The  examining  chamber  is  called  "  secrecy," 
because  the  inspection  is  conducted  solely  by  the  appointed 
ones,  and  no  results  are  permitted  to  transpire  when  it  is  over. 
The  seven  ducts  spoken  of  before  are  opened,  and  the  work 
which  prepares  the  novice  for  the  new  condition  is  directly 
begun.  As  soon  as  it  is  announced  that  the  Lord  directs  that 
lie  shall  be  carried  on,  so  far  as  obedient,  into  the  new  king- 
dom, the  Angelic  Society  to  which  he  is  most,  by  genius,  in  a 


SEC.  668—670.]        TRE   AFOCALYPSE.  369 

state  to  be  adjoined,  becomes  aware  tbat  his  name  is  enrolled 
as  a  noviciate  spirit  from  tlie  eartli,  and  a  deep  internal  state 
is  induced,  during  wliicb,  while  all  things  in  the  body  rest,  and 
the  remaining  evils  in  the  will  and  the  false  persuasions  in  the 
mind  are  kept  quiescent,  he  is,  as  to  his  spirit,  permitted  to 
go  up  and  find  his  welcome  therein.  "  I  have  not  found  thy 
works  perfect,^^  signifies,  that  none  to  whom  this  welcome  is 
extended  are  faultless  ;  they  are  received  as  novices,  only  to 
become  permanently  joined  through  the  perpetual  advancement 
of  respiration  day  by  day ;  this  advance  of  respiration  being 
dependent  upon  obedience  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  "Works 
perfect  before  God,^^  signifies,  the  divine  introspection  which 
reveals  to  the  examining  angels  the  absolute  condition  of  the 
interiors,  both  of  the  will  and  understanding,  prior  to  the  period 
when  this  intromission  and  adjunction  to  the  Heavenly  Society 
takes  place. 

Chap.  III.  3. — "Eemembee  therepoee  how  thou  hast  received 

AND  HEARD,  AND  HOLD  EAST,  AND  REPENT.  If  THEREFORE 
THOU  SHALT  NOT  WATCH,  I  WILL  COME  ON  THEE  AS  A  THIEF, 
AND  THOU  SHALT  NOT  ENOW  WHAT  HOUR  i  WILL  COME  UPON 
THEE.-"^ 

670.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  respiration,  in  its  media- 
tory states,  betokens  that  the  man^s  evils  are  put  down  or  that 
his  life-cross  may  be  laid  aside ;  far  from  it.  It  announces 
these  distinguishing  blessings  :  First,  that  he  has  been  examined 
as  before,  and  approved  as  a  novitiate  spirit  for  the  new  life. 
Second,  that  the  Heavenly  Society,  of  which  he  may  finally  be- 
come, in  bliss  and  victory,  a  member,  enrolls  him  for  a  can- 
didate for  its  endless  fellowship,  and  spiritually  embosoms  him 
in  its  sanctities.  Third,  it  indicates,  conditionally,  forgiveness 
of  all  past  offences,  and  preparations,  if  he  is  faithful,  for  their 
total  eradication.  Fourth,  evidence  is  afforded  by  it  that  the 
loving  Lord  has  vouchsafed  in  the  most  glorious  open  manner, 
to  make  preparations  for  triumphal  advent  into  his  being. 
Fifth,  that  it  is  an  assured  token  that  if  he  is  faithful  he  shall 
have  ability  to  persevere  to  the  end.  When  these  things  are 
considered,  light  indeed  becomes  the  burden,  which  for  a  space 
might  otherwise  appear  grievous  to  be  borne.    Exceptions  hero 

A  A 


370  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.      [ciiap.  hi. 

must  be  noted,  referring  to  persons  who  are  opened  in  prepara- 
tion for  judgment,  and  also  for  judgment. 

671.  The  temptations  are,  first,  to  renounce  the  faith  that  has 
been  received,  that  internal  respiration  may  occur.  This  marks 
the  approach  of  the  most  direful  enemies  ;  terrible  by  number, 
subtlety,  persistence,  and  the  most  cruel  hate.  To  be  overcome 
by  the  man,  whom  persistently  from  birth  he  has  followed, 
tempted,  and  flattered  to  make  a  fiend-slave,  is  the  demon^s 
most  extreme  fear ;  it  involves,  after  a  time,  the  arrest  of  the 
evil  spii'it,  his  binding,  the  destruction  of  his  vain-glorious 
schemes,  the  entire  suppression  of  the  ability  to  destroy.  When 
the  danger  is  seen  to  be  at  the  doors — for  the  lungs  are  the 
doors  where  through  God's  holy  breath  comes  forth — the  demon 
retires  for  a  time  into  the  deepest  Hell  to  which  he  has  access, 
and  impregnates  himself  therein  with  the  germs  of  actual  living* 
creatures  that  sting  and  kill.  These  he  feeds  within  himself 
until  they  burst  from  their  cockatrice  shells,  and  with  infernal 
forms  crave  to  find  a  nerve  essence  in  a  human  body  where  they 
can  ultimate  themselves,  and  mount  up  in  madness  to  a  new 
spirit  and  ruin  it  utterly.  The  infestations  which  then  ensue 
are  primary  and  secondary  :  primary,  when  the  demon  finds 
immediate  access,  and  injects  into  the  nerve  essence  some 
creature  of  this  fatal  brood;  secondary,  when  there  is  no 
direct  access,  through  the  nerve  organization  of  parties  in- 
termediate. The  danger  is  to  be  guarded  against  by  never 
visiting  any  place  of  business  or  amusement,  by  engaging  in 
no  pursuits,  by  cultivating  no  friendships  without  the  inward 
guidance,  earnestly  sought  in  obedience  to  light  already  given. 

672.  '^  Repent'^  in  this  verse  signifies,  instantaneous  turning 
to  the  Lord,  whenever  there  is  consciousness,  however  slight, 
that  the  afiections  have  lapsed  away.  ''  Hold  fast,''  signifies, 
that  through  prayer,  by  means  of  which  a  stream  of  divine  in-  • 
flux  penetrates  the  lungs,  livirsg  rapjjort  must  be  maintained 
with  the  Lord.  "  Remember  therefore  how  thou  hast  received 
and  heard,"  signifies,  that  the  man  when  tempted  must, 
throvigh  prayer,  keep  that  upper  degree  in  memory  open,  in 
which  the  truths  from  the  Word  concerning  internal  respira- 
tion and  the  new  kingdom,  are  inscribed  in  divine  light.  The 
rest  of  the  verse  contains  most  fearful  declarations  relating  to 


SEC.  671—673.]         THE  APOCALYPSE.  37I 


swift  destructions  to  overtake  tlie  man  who  trifles  with  the  be- 
ginning of  the  new  breath  and  the  monitions  of  the  Holy- 
Spirit.  When  once  the  Lord  has  pronounced  the  trifler  un- 
meet to  enter  into  the  golden-gated  city  of  the  perfect  opened 
respiration  and  the  sublime  newness  of  the  re-established  man, 
he  is  first  happy;  a  weight  seems  to  be  taken  from  him, 
as  if  an  enemy  who  persecuted  him  were  dead.  The  man  be- 
gins to  laugh  within  himself  at  the  superstitious  terrors  to 
which  he  had  weakly  given  way.  The  world  looks  as  never 
before,  pleasure  never  so  sweet,  wealth  never  so  alluring, 
passion  never  so^  intoxicating,  fame  never  so  glorious :  He 
drops  dead,  when  the  fantasies  have  reached  their  culmination, 
without  a  prayer,  without  a  passing  moment  for  repentance. 
The  breath  of  Hell  mounts  up  producing  instantaneous  suffo- 
cation. The  gay  smile  is  on  the  lip,  and  the  cheek  flushed  in 
one  moment  with  brilliant  hues ;  a  gasp,  a  groan,  he  falls  !  Some 
will  read  this  and  turn  from  it  to  the  idle  world ;  not  theirs  the 
taste  to  indulge  in  disturbing  apprehensions ;  nevertheless  for 
them  the  shadow  waits.  "If  therefore  thou  shalt  not  watch,^' 
signifies,  that  the  man  who  is  not  careful  to  maintain  his  state, 
through  holy  obedience,  incm-s  the  Divine  displeasure.  "I 
will  come  on  thee  as  a  thief,^^  signifies,  that  the  trifler  will  be 
overtaken  in  a  state  of  imagined  rest.  "  And  thou  shalt  not 
know  what  hour  I  will  come  upon  thee,"  signifies,  that  after 
being  found  unfaithful  and  adjudged,  the  Lord  will  execute  that 
judgment,  when  he  despises  and  secretly  denies  the  Master,  in 
the  unguarded  breath  of  aspiration  after  the  things  he  covets. 

Chap.  hi.  4. — "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Saedis  which 
have  not  defiled  their  garments  ;  and  they  shall  walk 
with  me  in  white  :  foe  they  are  worthy.''^ 
673.  Ancient  Greece  presents  the  most  conspicuous  illustra- 
tion of  a  race  in  whom  the  genius  typified  by[the  Church  in  Sar- 
dis,  though  inverted  to  a  great  degree,  displayed  its  attributes. 
Paris  affords  at  the  present  time  an  exemplification  of  the  gay, 
luxurious  tendencies  of  the  same  mental  species ;  while  a  cor- 
responding type  of  mankind  seeks  to  evolve  a  light  and  airy- 
gaiety  in  America,  upon  the  original  basis  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race.     Of  all  varieties  this  is  most  godless,  in  its  palmy  hour, 

A  A  2 


372  ABOANA    OF  CHBISTIANITY.        [cnip.  iir. 

most  given  to  surface  display,  and  prone  to  oscillate  between 
demon  worship  and  refined  materialism.  It  will  in  its  extreme 
rage  against  the  new  kingdom  of  our  Redeemer,  first  ridicule 
in  light,  polished  irony,  then  satirise,  but  finally  murder.  It 
does  not  in  its  heart  believe  in  the  just  man.  The  hollow  pulpit 
charlatanism  that  seeks  to  clothe  a  luxurious  practice  with 
the  tinsel  and  glitter  of  ceremonial  rites,  denotes  an  adjoined 
ministry  of  infernal  men  in  the  same  condition. 

674.  Jesuits  are  principally  of  this  type.  The  successful 
men  of  the  diplomatic  world,  who  deal  with  human  rights  as 
the  sharper  with  the  packed  handful  of  playing  cards,  however 
courtly  or  ostentatious  in  sect  service,  chiefly  belong  to  the  same 
body.  The  brilliant,  superficial  poets,  who  write  merely  from 
externals  to  internals  ;  the  men  of  letters,  who  review  for  hire, 
and  prostitute  the  conscience  from  day  to  day  as  public  opinion 
dictates ;  the  vast  philosophical  class,  who  reason  with  them- 
selves that  expediency  is  the  chief  virtue  of  mankind ;  the  illu- 
sive scientists,  whose  great  aim  is  to  make  it  appear  that  matter 
is  the  father  of  man,  and  the  mental  system  indebted  to  the 
mundane  elements  for  its  every  inspiration;  the  nineteenth 
century  men  preeminently,  who  boast  themselves  the  giants 
and  the  crowning  race,  and  in  their  hearts  deny  that  they  have 
need  to  be  regenerate,  these,  and  their  number  is  legion,  who 
walk  on  the  prostrate  bodies  of  the  lowly,  are  principally  in- 
heritors of  the  same  organic  quality.  ''  Thou  hast  a  few  names, 
even  in  Sardis,  which  have  not  defiled  their  garments,^^  signi- 
fies, the  presence  of  a  divine  sphere,  which  surrounds  and 
clothes  the  inmost  degree  of  the  understanding  in  which  pre- 
cious things  of  faith  are  preserved.  "  And  they  shall  walk  with 
me  in  white,^^  signifies,  a  progress  through  open  respiration 
into  celestial  surroundings  of  joy,  truth,  peace,  and  power. 
"  For  they  are  worthy,^'  signifies,  their  inmost  desire  promptly 
and  effectually  to  execute  God^s  will. 

Chap.  in.  5. — '^He    that    ovekcometh,    the    same    shall   be 

CLOTHED  IN  WHITE  RAIMENT;  AND  I  WILL  NOT  BLOT  OUT  HIS 
NAME  OUT  OP  THE  BOOK  OP  LIPE,  BUT  I  WILL  CONPESS  HIS 
NAME   BEFOKE    MY    FaTHEE,    AND   BEPOEE    HiS    ANGELS.-" 

675.  The  intellectual-natural  man^  typified  by  the  church  in 


.SEC.  674—677.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  373 

Sardis,  will  establisli  social  harmony  tlirongli  initiament  into 
full  open  respiration  as  follows :  Cburcli  Sardis  moves  to  the 
initiament  of  harmony  embosomed  in  Church  Thyatira,  the 
intellectual-natural  being  thus  pervaded  by  the  celestial- 
natural.  It  is  more  easy  for  the  two  churches  to  begin  as 
one_,  than  for  either  to  originate  separately.  In  a  sense, 
Thyatira  is  the  father  and  mother  of  Sardis,  but  afterward  its 
brother  and  sister.  The  reason  why  Thyatira  precedes  is 
because  order  is  initiated  through  the  celestial-natural  sense 
of  the  Word,  and  open  respiration  begins  with  that  type  of 
man.  It  is  impossible  for  a  single  series  of  industries  or  of 
harmonies  in  Thyatira  to  be  unfolded  without  corresponding 
series  in  Sardis  pressing  toward  them  in  unison.  It  is  equally 
impossible  for  celestial-natural  men  to  be  led  into  our  Lord^s 
new  harmony,  without  intellectual-natui^al  men  of  similar 
quaHties  being  extricated  from  the  world's  corruptions,  and  in 
the  one  great  process  brought  forth  to  light  and  hfe.  What 
therefore  follows  concerning  the  initiation  of  harmony  applies 
to  Sardis  as  in  this  conjunction. 

676.  When  open  respiration  first  begins,  the  whole  earth 
being  closed,  there  must  be  some  one  man  by  whom  it  may  be 
organically  led  into  the  world.  Open  respiration  may  begin  in 
an  individual  who  through  it  may  be  illumined  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  internals  of  the  Word.  The  object  for  which  the  open- 
ing takes  place  may  be  the  setting  forth  of  certain  divine 
knowledges.  It  may  never  pass  the  bounds  of  the  one  person- 
ahty,  and  may  die  with  him ;  or  if  it  is  the  Lord's  will  that  the 
goings  forth  of  the  Spirit  shall  be  both  verbal  and  vital,  then 
one  may  be  chosen  who  shall  be  introduced  from  stage  to 
stage  both  into  knowledges  and  potencies.  In  this  ease  the 
respiration  does  not  die  with  his  decease,  but  goes  on  from 
conquering  to  conquer  through  the  generations.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  unfoldings  from  the  Word  in  our  own  time  have  been 
both  verbal  and  vital,  because  open  respiration  follows  in  the 
train  of  the  advancing  principles. 

677.  Our  Lord,  during  His  incarnation,  was  but  a  passing 
guest ;  He  found  no  place  wherein  to  lay  His  head ;  He  was 
landless,  and  consequently  homeless.  In  His  second  advent 
He  first  of  all  makes  new  soils,  atmospheres,  waters,  and 


374  ARCANA   OF  CIIBISTXANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

breatliSj  in  those  wliom  He  begins  to  establish  in  the  new 
creation;  this  is  the  first  stage.  He  then  conducts  the  in- 
dividual or  family  in  whom  He  is  maliifested  to  some  secluded 
locality,  where  in  the  privacy  of  domestic  life  there  may  be 
formed  an  internal  aromal  sphere,  resting  on  demagnetized 
soil,  and  purifying  the  surrounding  air;  this  is  the  second 
stage.  He  then  brings  the  pivotal  man  of  the  family  to  the 
first  great  crisis,  mai^kcd  by  that  stupendous  change,  the 
death  of  the  old  and  the  iuitiament  of  the  new  natural  soul. 
In  order  that  this  may  be  effected,  a  certain  number  have  to 
be  brought  into  the  new  respiration ;  otherwise  death  would 
ensue  in  the  crisis,  because  it  is  only  through  a  volume  of 
concurrent  breaths  that  the  demagnetized  natural  organism 
can  be  held  in  a  state  of  isolation  from  the  universal  inversive 
magnetic  currents  of  the  depraved  race,  through  which  the 
Hells  endeavour  to  destroy. 

678.  If  this  crisis  is  safely  passed,  the  first  principles  of 
solidarity  begin  to  operate.  The  open  respiring  man,  through 
his  new  natural  soul,  rapidly  becomes  involved  in  new  aromal 
spheres.  It  is  to  him  a  change  greater  than  death,  and  brings 
with  it  experiences  that  are  incommunicable ;  the  internal 
nerve  essence  becomes  a  fiery  sea,  a  fulness  of  divine -natural 
life.  The  fays  of  earth^s  upper  surfaces,  the  dwellers  in  the 
realms  of  fire  and  stone,  organ  by  organ,  in  the  universal 
concurrence  of  their  fay  breaths,  hold  up  the  new  natural 
soul.  In  due  time  every  diurnal  change  is  marked  by  the 
outgoing  of  a  specific  infolded  breath,  elaborated  and  detached 
by  the  Lord  through  all  this  organic  action.  Individuals  are 
brought  thereby  into  preparedness  for  respiration,  and  thence 
into  the  openness  of  respiration.  Then  begins  the  initiament 
of  social  harmony,  there  being  an  open  respiring  family  in  its 
prepared  and  guarded  place. 

679.  Then  begin  great  educative  processes.  Before  specific 
industries  can  be  inaugurated,  a  specific  Divine  industrial 
descent  occurs.  The  respiration  is  brought  into  continuousncss 
with  the  respirations  of  angels  who  work  according  to  the 
correspondences  of  such  industries,  in  Heaven  and  in  the 
archetypal  world.  Then  begin  combats  against  the  infernals 
who  specifically  control  the  inversive  forms  of  those  industries. 


SEC.  678—681.]         TRi:   APOCALYPSK  375 

Tlie  success  of  tlie  ultimative  results  is  wliolly  dependent  upon 
tliese  great  divine  laws^  these  descents,  tliese  battles.  Tlie 
sjnnbols  of  the  process  are  the  symbols  of  regeneration.  In 
the  midst  of  such  mysteiy  the  new  order  of  the  world  is  born. 
There  are  visitations,  searchings,  wastings,  watchings,  tempta- 
tions, combats,  strengthenings,  upliftings  innumerable,  to 
recount  which  would  fill  volumes.  There  are  descents  and 
outgoings  of  divine  respirations,  manifold  in  quality  and 
potency,  against  which  rise  up  the  infernal  respirations  from 
Hellj  and  so  there  is,  as  it  were,  a  martyr  preparation,  a 
martyr  struggle,  and  at  last,  through  the  indwelling  of  the 
Divine  Martyr,  a  martyr  victory.  From  this  time  a  fourth 
state  is  begun. 

680.  Heretofore  this  work  has  been  wrought  in  seclusion, 
and  those  passing  through  its  ordeals  have  been  weak  through 
wastings  and  watchings,  and  manifold  struggle ;  but  now,  heart 
begins  to  be  adjoined  to  heart  in  a  Uving  way ;  a  divine  human 
life  and  light  and  power  reveal  themselves  in  the  affections ;  the 
beams  of  this  love  are  the  radiances  of  the  Spiritual  Sun.  A 
gradual  condition  of  positiveness  to  the  world  is  let  down  from 
Heaven.  It  is  now  possible  to  be  in  the  world  without  being 
of  the  world,  to  grapple  with  the  great  social  and  industrial 
problems,  to  lead  forth  industries,  and  thus  to  initiate  har- 
monies. Gradually  one  domain  is  brought  into  order.  Con- 
forming to  public  institutions,  never  causing  needless  offence, 
abstaining  from  proselytism,  never  obtruding  opinions ;  but 
rather  commending  themselves  as  chaste,  industrious,  quiet, 
peaceful,  law-abiding  men,  insphered  in  a  Divine  love,  which 
clothes  them  as  with  a  palpable  atmosphere,  and  beams 
through  them  as  a  perpetual  witness, — tliose  who  initiate  this 
holy  work  wiU  proceed,  at  first  slowly  and  softly,  but  with 
a  divine  safety  in  all  their  ways.  From  the  love  and  service 
of  the  one  God  proceeds  one  respiration,  one  chastity,  one 
affection,  one  bearing  of  each  other's  burdens,  one  universal 
intercommunion  of  sympathies,  one  concurrence  of  intelligence, 
one  fixedness  in  the  form  of  unity,  and  one  resistless  power  to 
work  His  holy  will. 

681.  To  those  who  know  nothing  of  such  things,  this  will 
seem  as  unreal  as  the  most  baseless  of  the  poet's  gorgeous 


376  ABCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

imaginations.  To  those  who  have  participated,  on  the  con- 
trary, and  seen  the  shckinah  of  this  tabernacle,  it  will  be  felt 
that  nothing  has  adequately  been  told.  These  things  can  never 
be  understood  through  verbal  delineation,  however  ample  and 
exquisite.  It  is  written  "  Taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good, 
blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  Him."  Here  is  a  sorrow 
that  is  richer  than  the  world^s  joy,  and  a  burden  that  is  easier 
than  its  rest.  Here  is  not  happiness,  as  the  world  knows  happi- 
ness, but  blessedness,  as  the  heart  uplifted  into  Christ  knows 
blessedness.  Here  is  miracle  instituted  into  natural  law,  and 
natural  law  uplifted  into  miracle.  In  the  endless  ascension  of 
their  states  and  days,  ''  there  shall  be  no  night  there  ;  and  they 
need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun ;  for  the  Lord  God 
giveth  them  light ;  and  they  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever." 

682.  At  this  point  all  the  children  of  Thyatira  and  Sardis, 
born  into  this  new  life,  would  concurrently  desire  to  add,  that 
it  is  not  by  their  own  virtue,  or  wisdom,  or  might,  that  they 
have  been  able  to  enter  into  such  things ;  they  have  simply 
been  invited  to  the  banqueting  hall,  and  led  up  into  the 
chambers  of  the  Presence,  that  in  turn  they  might  testify  of 
the  Lord's  mercy,  and  bear  witness  to  the  sureness  and  abun- 
dance of  His  love. 

683.  In  these  new  centres  of  the  Avorld's  order  none  can 
dwell  except  by  a  special  call,  a  special  love,  a  special  conspi- 
ration, and  a  concurrent  respiration  of  all  in  each,  and  each  in 
all,  and  so  of  all  in  Ckrist,  and  of  Christ  in  all.  As  respiration 
becomes  established,  it  is  continually  more  and  more  secret. 
The  angels  walk  among  men,  they  move  in  cohorts  and  batta- 
lions ;  they  converse,  and  chant  loud  and  lofty  melodies ;  the 
lustre  of  their  garments  is  as  the  glory  of  the  sun,  and  the 
sweetness  which  exhales  from  them  as  the  most  intense  and 
fragrant  of  spices,  yet  men  do  not  see  the  angels.  The  whole 
world,  with  all  of  its  combined  force  of  mentality,  cannot  bring 
to  knowledge  one  truth  from  their  Word,  till  the  Lord  permits 
it  to  be  known.  This  is  the  peculiarity  of  men  who  enter  into 
the  new  purity  and  solidarity,  they  breathe  as  none  others,  but 
the  natural  man  cannot  detect  the  difference  of  the  breath 
when  it  becomes  perfect.  Theirs  is  angehc  power,  that  is, 
veiling  power ;  they  move  upon   God's  errands  as  the  angels 


SEC.  682—685.]         THE  APOCALYPSE.  377 

move ;  tlie  world  is  not  able  to  detect  the  messengers  ;  they 
liave  the  power  from  the  Lord  of  working  in  space  as  if  out  of 
space.  The  men  of  these  Churches  now  labour  in  the  world  on 
three  continents^  yet  none  can  say,  "  That  is  one/'  or,  "  That  is 
one/'  except  in  special  cases.  Here  is  the  fountain  springing 
in  the  desert,  that  reveals  its  presence  by  ever-living  virtue. 

684.  One  of  this  order,  writing,  not  of  himself,  but  of  the 
Brotherhood  and  Sisterhood  in  the  New  Life,  is  forced  to  say, 
that  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  which  they  bear,  are  as  the  fruits  of 
the  trees  in  the  garden  of  God.  There  is  with  each  a  sense  of 
profound  unworthiness  and  humiliation ;  each  does  esteem  the 
other  as  better  than  himself;  and  each,  so  far  as  quickened, 
loves  the  other  better  than  himself.  Of  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  the  love  of  Christ,  thus  shed  abroad,  language  is  unworthy 
to  utter. 

QQo^.  Here  is  the  embryo  of  the  new  Christian  world.  Above 
it  rests  a  pillar  of  light,  nor  will  it  move  so  long  as  the  chief 
centre  of  life  and  inspiration  for  the  planet  is  there  maintained. 
None  will  join  themselves  thereto,  nor  can  they,  except  through 
harmony  of  breaths.  These  grave  and  holy  men,  advancing 
from  condition  to  condition,  will  burn  with  divine  fire,  and  so 
copiously  -pulse  forth  the  quahties  of  the  Heavens,  that,  more 
than  patriarchs,  prophets,  or  apostles,  it  shall  be  said  of  them, 
that  they  possess  that  futm'e  of  which  patriarchs,  prophets,  and 
apostles  caught  but  a  distant  fore-gleam.  In  their  midst  it 
will  be  demonstrated  that  Christ  has  come.  "  He  that  over- 
cometh,''  signifies,  open  breathing  men  made  use  of  in  the 
evolution  of  New  Society.  "The  same  shall  be  clothed  in 
white  raiment,"  signifies,  a  final  state  on  earth  which  they 
shall  attain,  conspicuously  illustrating  therein  the  sweetness, 
humility,  patience,  wisdom,  and  implicit  obedience  of  the 
angels.  "  And  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name  out  of  the  book  of 
life,''  signifies,  that  such  having  been  first  enrolled  as  proba- 
tionary novices  in  their  respective  heavenly  societies,  find  their 
names  permanently  inscribed  in  the  records,  to  be  received  as 
angels.  "But  I  will  confess  his  name  before  my  Father,"  sig- 
nifies, the  Lord  Christ  dwelling  -svithin,  in  His  divine  humanity. 
"  And  before  the  angels,"  signifies,  that  they  are  visible  finally 
as  angols  to  angels,  and  the  Lord  God  gloriously  shines  forth 
through  them. 


37S  ABCANA   OF  CHBISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 


SIXTEENTH    ILLUSTEATIOK 

Interview  with  demons, — dcniers  of  open  respiration. — Attaclcs  from  them. 
Their  respiration  suppressed  by  the  Divine  power. — A  confession  of  one 
of  their  number. 

686.  I  was  attacked  at  tliis  place,  during  my  work  of  dic- 
tation, and  beheld  six  demons  falsely  personating  Kosciusko, 
William  Penn,  Martin  Luther,  Sidney,  Wilberforce,  and  "Wash- 
ington. They  cried  aloud,  "  Wliat  folly  is  that !  We  respire 
from  body  to  soul,  as  do  all  men ;  how  then  can  a  man  respire 
from  spirit  to  body  ? "  Since  permission  was  given  me  to 
reply  from  our  Lord,  I  answered,  "  He  that  respires  from  soul 
to  body  is  in  the  body  of  the  Heavens,  the  Lord  being  in 
him.''  They  shouted,  as  one,  in  reply,  "  God's  elements  are 
nature ;  the  fii'st  form  of  resjjiration  is  that  of  the  plant,  the 
next  the  animal,  the  next  the  man,  and  the  next  the  spirit. 
We  breathe  by  sucking  up  such  flavours  as  delight  the  nostrils, 
and  feed  thi'ough  them  on  what  is  congenial."  At  this  they 
began  to  mock  me,  and  one  cried,  "  Ha,  ha  !  let  him  smell  us ; 
that  will  change  his  thoughts."  I  answered,  "  Our  states  are 
opposite.  Could  I  absorb  willingly  the  breaths  in  which  you 
live,  I  should,  indeed,  as  you  say,  think  as  you  think.  But  I 
cannot  think  as  you  think,  unless  I  cease  to  breathe  as  I 
now  breathe.  Were  your  inclinations-  suppressed  for  a  while, 
since  they  cannot  be  changed,  but  only  suppressed,  a  different 
breathing  would  come  upon  you,  and  you  would  confirm  all 
that  you  now  deny." 

687.  One  of  them  had  approached  me,  and  was  endeavour- 
ing to  induce  his  own  mental  state.  An  angel  appeared  at  my 
right  at  this  moment,  holding  in  his  right  hand  a  brilliant 
star.  The  demons  denied  that  it  was  possible  for  one  of  them 
to  breathe  as  I  had  said ;  instantly,  however,  the  foremost  one 
fell  on  his  face,  and  became  pallid  and  like  a  stone.  They 
looked  at  him  in  wonder,  for  he  breathed  not  in  this  condition. 
Slowly  rising,  he  stood  upon  his  feet,  facing  them ;  a  sharp 
dart  flashed  through  his  open  mouth  and  struck  the  others, 
driving  them  to  a  considerable  distance,  but  still  within  ear- , 
shot.  I  now  said  to  the  one  on  whom  this  condition  was  in- 
duced, "  Who  are  you  ?"    He  responded,  ^^  A  man-devil  of  the 


SEC.  686—689.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  379 

second  Hell/^  I  continued,  '^AVhence  come  you  now  V  Then. 
followed  the  answer  : — "From  infesting  the  ghost  in  the  World 
of  Spirits,  who  was  called  '  Lord  Macaulaj/  So  lono-  as  he 
keeps  in  appearances,  I  play  the  vampire,  and  smell  out  the 
exudations  of  his  mind,  greedily  absorbing  them  as  food.  That 
respiration  may  be  from  internals  to  externals,  I  admit,  be- 
cause I  now  breathe  by  means  of  a  fire  which  enters  where  my 
lungs  join  the  understanding  and  the  will.'^ 

688.  The  angel  now  said,  "  This  is  enough  for  the  illustra- 
tion.^^ The  breath  was  withdrawn,  and  the  demon  fell  senseless, 
but  afterward  arose,  made  a  painful  effort,  gasped,  and  spoke, 
crying,  "  Lord  Macaulay  is  an  angel.  I  will  summon  him,  and 
he  will  testify  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  respiration  from 
the  soul  to  the  body,  known  where  he  is."  I  answered,  "  You 
have  just  stated  to  me  that  you  were  a  man-devil,  and  had 
come  from  preying  upon  the  spirit  of  whom  you  speak,  as  does 
a  vampire,  and  nourishing  yourself  upon  his  mental  exudations ; 
asserting  also  that  a  flame  of  fire  entered  you,  and  caused  re- 
spiration from  internals  to  externals.-'^  His  five  associates  then 
drew  near  and  began  abusing  him  as  having  gone  mad ;  but 
he  cried,  "  We  all  know  we  are  devils:  I  cannot  resist  an  ano-el 
of  God.  Did  the  bolt  strike  you,  each  would  make  such  con- 
fessions as  I  did."     They  passed  away. 


Chap.  hi.  6. — ''  He  that  hath  an  eae,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spieit  saith  unto  the  chukches." 

689.  The  understanding  of  the  new  man  of  the  Church  in  Sar- 
dis,  is  especially  of  a  quality  to  comprehend  the  reconstruction 
of  society  in  the  new  harmony.  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,"  signi- 
fies, the  new  man  of  this  type.  "  Let  him  hear,"  sio-nifies,  an 
open  declaration  within  him  from  our  Lord,  when  He  comes  to 
reconstruct  the  social  edifice.  "  What  the  Spirit  saith,"  sio-ni- 
fies, the  unfoldings  necessary  for  the  initiation  of  the  new  social 
order  and  its  evolution  from  its  first  and  least  to  its  composite 
and  universal  states.  "  Unto  the  churches,"  signifies,  the 
demonstration  of  this  harmony  to  all  the  regenerate  races  of 
open  breathing  man. 


380  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.       [chap.  hi. 


SEVENTEENTH    ILLUSTEATION. 

Experiences  in  the  Heavens  prefiguring  the  destruction  of  Cliristendom  in 
its  present  evil  natural  form. — Things  hereafter. — A  sabhath  of  sor- 
cerers in  Hell. — The  Archetypal  American  Commonwealth. — Illustra- 
tions from  Archetypa. — Spiritual  facts  connected  with  the  recent 
rebellion  in  America. — The  infernal  England,  and  events  transpiring 
there,  which  affect  the  political  and  social  condition  of  Great  Britain. — 
New  barriers  against  the  Hells  formed  in  the  new  creation. — Dissolu- 
tion of  the  remains  of  ancient  order. 

690.  I  was  in  the  Heavens^  and  heard  a  great  voice  from  the 
east,  crying  "  New  bread."  Then  manna  began  to  fall  imme- 
diately, diffusing  in  its  descent  a  pleasant  odour.  At  the  same 
time,  by  apposition,  I  was  made  aware  of  a  terror  in  the  oppo- 
site Hells,  and  heard  a  cry  proceeding  from  a  dark  Society  in 
the  west,  that  they  were  being  battered  by  hailstones  and  de- 
stroyed. The  descending  manna  was  gathered  in  the  Heavens 
by  conjugial  associates,  appearing  in  the  distance  as  little  chil- 
dren ;  and  I  heard  them  singing  in  a  delightful  unison  while 
at  theii'  employment.  I  experienced  a  strong  desire  to  partake 
of  this  food,  and  grew  hungry  and  faint  for  it,  when  an  angel 
approached  and  said,  ''Who  is  this  that  hungers?"  Words 
were  given  me  to  respond,  "  A  man  of  sorrows  from  the  earth.^' 
Then  the  angel  replied,  "  Be  not  sorrowful,  for  there  is  much 
reason  for  good  cheer."  At  this  I  was  invited  to  partake  of 
the  manna,  which  satisfied  not  alone  the  appetite  of  the  sense 
for  food,  but  the  craving  of  the  soul  for  righteousness. 

691.  When  the  repast  was  over,  I  was  invited  into  a  pleasant 
garden,  where  about  a  hundred  members  of  the  Society,  of 
which  the  angel  was  one,  were  variously  engaged,  some  in 
irrigating  the  soil,  others  in  the  pruning  of  vines,  or  the  various 
disposition  of  plants  and  herbs  principally  of  an  edible  cha- 
racter. Although  it  was  bright  day,  and  the  Divine  Sun  was 
glowing  in  the  east,  myriads  of  stars  shone  in  the  unclouded 
azure,  and  a  soft  dew  was  falling.  At  the  extremity  of  the 
garden  appeared  a  pavilion,  and  over  it  inscribed  in  golden 
letters  on  a  green  wall,  ''  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth;"  yet,  while  gazing  upon  the  inscription,  one 
sentence  flashed  from  within  another,  variously  irradiated  with 
many-colom-ed  lights.    I  entered  this  pavilion,  and  there  found 


SEC.  690—693.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  381 

a  man  in  a  scarlet  mantle  writing  at  a  table.  He  looked  in- 
quiringly at  my  approach,  paused,  and  gently  said,  "  Brother, 
what  would  you  have  V  At  this  I  replied,  "  I  have  been  fed 
this  morning  with  manna,  and  I  now  ask  work.  None  can  be 
in  Heaven  without  work ;  give  me  all  I  can  do,  and  let  me  be 
instructed  that  I  may  do  it  well/'  A  silver  bell  rang  at  this 
moment,  a  door  opened,  and  one  emerged  from  an  inner  cham- 
ber in  whom  I  recognized  the  Prince  of  the  Society,  who  with- 
out circumlocution  or  preface,  said,  "  I  perceive  his  quality ;  he 
is  adapted ;  give  him  a  hammer,  and  let  him  take  his  place 
among  the  stone  masons ;  equip  him  also  with  a  drill." 

692.  Being  thus  prepared,  I  was  conducted  to  the  north  of 
the  region  occupied  by  the  society,  and  there  found  many  men 
employed;  some  in  turfing  over  newly  prepared  soil,  and  others 
busy  in  shovelling  away  the  dehris  of  blasted  rock.  A  little 
farther  on  lay  a  mass  of  copper,  shaped  like  a  lizard,  and  be- 
yond it  huge  tumuli  of  heaped  stone.  As  I  gazed  upon  this 
copper  monster,  I  observed  life  in  it,  and  filled  with  indignation 
that  such  a  thing  should  be  seen  near  Heaven,  asked  permis- 
sion to  strike  it.  "  Beware,"  was  the  reply,  "  how  can  a  man 
strike  at  his  own  natural  soul  and  live  ?  Look  closer  and  you 
will  see  more."  At  this  I  began  to  examine,  and  perceived 
that  the  reptile  was  made  up  of  more  than  two  millions  of 
minute  organisms,  each  of  which  had  been  projected  from  or 
through  the  natural  soul  of  some  inhabitant  of  earth,  and  that 
they  were  so  connected  as  to  interact; — each  being  weak  in  it- 
self, yet  became  a  power  through  the  coalescent  unity  of  all.  I 
grew  indignant  again  upon  observing  it,  and  again  demanded 
permission  to  strike ;  but  the  chief  of  the  working  group  gravely 
answered  as  before,  '^^  Beware  of  what  you  do.  Who  can 
strike  his  own  natural  soul  and  live  ?"  At  this  I  cried,  "  If 
my  natural  soul  eliminates  from  itself  any  creature  to  become 
a  part  of  this  idol,  I  would  rather  by  far  enter  into  life  with- 
out a  natural  soul.  I  begin  to  think  now  that  the  natural  soul 
of  man  is  at  best  a  misbegotten  beast,  and  of  its  fether  the 
devil." 

693.  I  now  heard  the  blasters  again  at  their  work  in  the 
rocks ;  the  soil  shook  with  explosion  after  explosion,  but  still 
I  could  not  desist  from  observing  the  copper  monster,  which 


3S2  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  m. 

began  to  spout  fire  from  its  nostrils,  scorcliing,  sulphurous, 
and  mephitic.  Again  I  demanded  permission  to  strike,  and 
tliis  time  received  tlie  answer,  "  He  that  hateth  his  own  soul 
for  Christ's  sake  and  the  gospel's  shall  do  well.  Let  your 
hand  be  strong,  and  your  eye  keen  :  then  breathe  deeply,  and 
to  the  work/'  At  this  appeared  about  a  hundred  labourers,  a 
group  of  which  I  made  one,  and  the  strength  of  a  hundred 
men  seemed  in  my  right  arm.  Each  having  for  his  instrument 
a  sledge,  all  raised  them  at  the  same  moment,  and  in  the  same 
instant  they  fell.  At  the  same  time  1  heard  the  cry,  "  The 
anakim,  the  anakim  !  "  while  a  spouting  breath  of  vapour, 
forced  through  the  nostrils  of  the  beast,  wi^apt  us  as  in  white 
steam. 

694.  Then  hieroglyphic  symbols  or  images  began  to  appear 
upon  its  scaly  back,  raised  as  if  in  burnished  c  rbuncle, 
though  one  might  perceive  that  the  gems  were  fictitious ; 
among  the  symbolic  images  were  music,  painting,  rhetoric, 
philosophy,  and  the  like.  At  every  blow  the  monster  became 
more  resplendent,  throwing  off  flakes  of  a  green  slimy  light, 
horribly  putrescent,  and  the  stench  of  decay  was  almost  too 
dreadful  to  bear.  The  atmosphere  then  burst  into  flame  of  a 
sickly  yellow,  while  still,  as  if  each  were  a  Thor  or  an  Odin, 
the  hundred  plied  the  sledge,  all  breathing  in  unison.  At 
length  it  began  to  bleed,  and  the  blood  rose  until  the  workmen 
stood  up  to  their  waists  in  the  red,  steaming,  noisome  fluid ; 
but  still  with  incessant  action  they  continued  to  ply  it  with 
heavy  blows.  I  was  informed  that  a  period  corresponding  to 
one  month  of  natural  time  had  passed,  during  that  which 
seemed  to  me  but  as  an  hour  of  the  morning.  At  length  one 
mightier  blow  than  the  rest  smote  him  upon  his  head,  and  broke 
its  massive  arch ;  when,  with  a  roar  that  seemed  as  if  it  might 
shake  mountains,  its  odious  life  was  at  an  end. 

695.  Afterward  the  lifeless  body  was  cast  into  a  furnace  un- 
til it  became  a  liquid,  and  lo,  each  minute  organism  of  which 
it  had  been  constructed  began  to  change,  until  it  became,  as  it 
were,  a  miniature  man,  and  finally  rose,  a  million-fold  in  power, 
utterly  purged,  as  if  it  were  a  copper  Titan.  An  imper- 
sonal creature,  it  awaited  a  Divine  fiat  to  perform  mighty 
deeds. 


SEC.  694—697.]         TSE   APOCALIPSJE.  383 

696.  The  labour  in  wliicli  I  had.  participated  wearied  me^  and. 
during  the  whole  period  of  the  intromission^  the  physical  body- 
was  anguished  with  hardly  a  respite  from  pain.  I  knew  that  I 
had  been  representatively  present^  for  the  purpose  of  illustration, 
at  the  work  of  the  destruction  of  Christendom.  It  appears  at 
the  extremity  of  the  Heavens,  because  it  claims  that  it  is  in 
such  direct  juxtaposition  thereto  that  its  accepted  members, 
with  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  pass  from  the  death-bed  to  par- 
take in  the  felicities  of  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  It 
appears  in  the  image  of  a  reptile,  because  in  its  collective  form 
it  is  not  divine  but  bestial,  performing  no  functions  in  a  true 
order,  but  voracious,  treacherous,  deceptive,  and  impure.  It 
appears  as  if  made  of  copper,  because  it  simulates  a  natural 
good ;  that  is,  it  claims  to  have  been  regenerated  into  a  divine 
excellence,  adapted  to  conditions  that  obtain  in  nature.  As 
this  image  was  overthrown,  Christendom,  in  its  organized  form, 
is  destined  to  perish. 

697.  It  is  in  the  natural  soul  of  man  that  the  evils  of  the 
planet  have  their  ultimate  stronghold.  Through  the  inverted 
natural  soul,  the  whole  aspect  of  Divine  order  is  treacherously 
distorted,  till  that  which  is  designed  to  be  man's  noblest  bless- 
ing is  made  his  dhest  curse.  It  is  impossible  to  effect  a  divine 
transformation  in  the  social  aspect  of  Christian  peoples,  ex- 
cept by  the  dissolution  of  the  natural  soul  of  man,  and  by  a 
divine  process  of  reconstruction.  If  the  dispositions  of  the 
will  can  be  changed,  if  the  affections  of  the  heart  can  die  yet 
live  again,  if  the  processes  of  the  intellect  can  undergo  a  trans- 
formation, if  the  hands  of  the  soul  that  clasp  the  hands  of  Hell, 
and  the  breaths  of  the  soul  that  go  out  toward  the  lungs  of 
Hell,  under  the  restorative  influence  of  the  Lord,  in  utter 
change  of  tendency,  can  raise  themselves  to  the  lungs  and 
hands  of  Heaven,  it  is  purely  rational  to  believe,  since  all 
divine  processes  tend  to  ultimates,  that  the  theatre  of  these 
august  wonders  can  be  transferred  to  the  vital  outposts  of  man's 
natural  organization.  It  is  very  obvious  that  if  the  natural 
soul  of  man  is  thus  transformed,  the  action  of  the  human  race, 
in  nature,  so  far  as  regenerate,  must  undergo  a  corresponding 
transformation.  Peoples,  families,  religions,  governments,  in- 
dustries, knowledges  of  every  type,  joys  of  every  species,  all 


384  ABCANA    OF   CEBISTIANITT.        [chap.  in. 

tilings  in  fine^  from  tlie  least  to  the  greatest,  pass  through  the 
fire-birth  and  become  divine. 


698.  I  was  afterwards  conversing  with  the  Angel,  and  he 
said,  quoting  from  the  language  of  Paul,  "  Behold,  I  show  you 
a  mystery.  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed." 
At  this  there  was  the  loud  sound  of  a  trumpet,  piercing  and 
even  shattering  the  air.  I  looked  down  toward  the  natural 
earth,  and  there  beheld  what  must  be  hereafter.  I  saw  a 
family  circle,  united  and  harmonious  in  natural  things,  and  wor- 
shipping God  with  great  decency  and  formality,  as  is  the  custom 
with  the  best  of  Protestants.  Suddenly  all  tliis  was  changed ; 
the  internals  of  each  character,  heretofore  secret,  now  began 
to  be  revealed.  The  father  became  an  atheist,  publicly  owning 
himself  a  devotee  of  nature ;  the  mother,  in  great  anguish 
of  spirit,  clung  for  a  season  to  surface  opinions,  imbibed 
from  her  youth,  but  eventually  renounced  them  and  accepted 
the  doctrines  of  Ann  Lee.  The  fates  of  the  children  were 
various,  the  eldest  son  drank  in  the  poison  of  Mormonism  in 
a  modified  form;  for  at  this  time  began  to  be  developed  a 
dangerous,  veiled  abomination ;  partaking  of  the  nature  of 
that  heresy,  he  became  the  master  of  a  harem  in  a  nominal 
Christian  land.  About  three-eighths  of  all  church  members 
are  polygamists  at  heart.  I  speak  now  of  males,  not  of 
females.  In  all  the  family  there  was  found  but  one  who 
possessed  real  spiritual  sanity ;  after  many  trials,  this  declared 
itself  through  all  of  the  surfaces  of  the  mind;  he  became  an 
open  respiring  Christian  of  the  New  Age. 

699.  A  second  time  the  trumpet  sounded,  and  again,  looking 
forth,  I  saw  that  which  appeared  to  be  a  board  of  bankers,  all 
decorous,  conventional  men,  principally  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, by  external  profession.  One  thing  led  to  another,  until 
one  proposed,  and  all  the  rest  acceded  to  the  proposition,  that 
each  should,  under  the  bond  of  secrecy,  reveal  his  doubts  upon 
religious  topics.  The  formation  of  this  compact  precipitated 
internal  states  to  external,  and  each  confessed  that  he  had  no 
faith  in  anything  but  forecast,  calculation,  and  selfish  sagacity. 
They  confirmed   one  another  by  adducing  many  instances, 


SEC.  698—701.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  385 

wherein  men  of  tlie  basest  life  had  amassed^  and  were  enjoying 
fortunes  and  distinctions.  One,  a  little  bolder  tlian  the  rest, 
announced  it  as  liis  belief  that  all  men  whatever,  who  had  out- 
grown the  state  of  romantic  illusion,  cherished  at  heart  the 
same  sentiments.  I  saw  here  an  illustration  of  the  growth  of 
great  events  from  invisible  beginnings ;  one  remarked  that  he 
felt  freed  and  benefited  by  unbosoming  himself,  to  which  all 
the  rest  assented.  It  was  resolved  thereupon  that  an  informal 
Society  should  be  established,  confined  to  opulent  and  eminent 
men  of  the  street,  for  hke  unbosomings  and  refreshment  in 
scepticism.  Scepticism,  like  religion,  is  gregarious  in  its 
habits.  Men  confirm  themselves,  both  in  truth  and  falsity,  by 
confidential  opening  of  then*  states. 

700.  A  third  trumpet  sounded^  and  closely  observing,  I  per- 
ceived a  vast  affiliated  Union,  co-extensive  with  the  influential 
classes  in  society,  and  styled  in  substance  a  club  for  the  en- 
couragement of  freedom  in  religion.  One  requisite  of  mem- 
bership was  that  each  should  be  connected  with  some  eminent 
sect,  and  appear  as  a  conformist  before  the  public.  An  esoteric 
doctrine  was  taught  among  them,  that  all  religions  were  alike ; 
but  that  the  world  being  governed,  and  society  maintained 
through  appearances,  it  was  socially  incumbent  on  man  to  live 
as  a  Pharisee  ;  and  whatever  his  indulgences  were,  to  cherish 
them  behind  a  veil.  It  was  singular  to  observe  the  unanimity 
with  which  almost  all,  of  a  certain  class,  fell  in  with  such  views 
as  these.  An  odious  Epicureanism  rather  than  a  saintly 
Heroism  governs  at  the  heart  of  modern  life.  It  is  not  true, 
however,  that  men's  interior  conditions  come  nakedly  into 
externals,  because  it  is  a  fixed  part  of  those  internal  condi- 
tions to  think  that,  however  men  beheve  or  act,  both  belief 
and  actions  require  shrouding  in  fold  after  fold  of  semblance. 
Hence,  as  the  new  states  of  worldly  men  declare  themselves, 
society  will  possess  at  once  an  esoteric  and  exoteric  constitu- 
tion, and  the  shameful  orgies  of  ancient  heathenism  revive  in 
the  bosom  of  the  world ;  while  outwardly  the  ceremonials  of 
worship  are  conducted  with  due  pomp,  and  Sabbaths  made 
days  of  high  solemnity. 

701.  I  was  afterwards  in  perception,  by  direction,  at  a  Sab- 
bath  of  sorcerers,   in   Infernus.     One    rcscmbhug   a  pontiff 

B  B 


386  Ali.OANA    OF   CnBISTIANITY.       [chap.  hi. 

greeted  anotlier,  who  might  have  been  a  king,  with  ^^Hail, 
Cesar  !  Now  shall  our  joowors  return,  and  a  new  infernal  age." 
To  this  the  potentate  replied,  "  Hail,  Christ !  "  But  when  he 
styled  him  thus,  in  so  blasphemous  a  perversion,  he  fell  head- 
long, and  another  rose  from  a  lower  pit,  crying,  "  Make  no 
allusions  to  the  destroyer.  Here  let  us  style  om-sclves  anti- 
christ, for  we  arc  so  ;  otherwise  mischief  will  befal."  The  two 
demons,  who  represented  pontifical  and  imperial  rule,  cour- 
teously advancing,  joined  hands  ;  when,  in  the  interblending  of 
their  spheres,  the  organized  falsities  of  their  minds  were  also 
united,  and,  proceeding  through  them,  rose  as  in  a  brazen 
column,  which  towered  apparently  to  the  zenith.  Many  on 
either  side  now  arranged  themselves,  according  to  the  order  of 
an  infernal  series,  and  the  ascending  column  became  more  vast 
with  every  accession  of  numbers. 

702.  At  length  it  penetrated  the  natural  world  through  the 
interiors  of  kingly  and  priestly  minds  open  toward  that  Hell, 
and  fed  them  with  injected  fantasies.  This  process  was 
watched  with  great  interest  by  the  deeper  infernals,  and 
among  them  by  antediluvian  sorcerers.  One  among  them,  in 
some  unknown  dialect  which  I  interpreted  by  an  attentive 
listening  to  the  quahty  of  the  sound  of  falsities  in  the  evil, 
whispered  to  a  colleague,  "  We  have  found  it :  our  submerged 
city  rises  above  the  engulfing  floods  by  which  it  was  over- 
whelmed anciently,  and  now  we  shall  obtain  great  power,  and 
reign.''"'  One  then  struck  at  me  with  a  rod,  made  to  imitate  a 
serpent,  because  it  was  suddenly  made  known  to  them  that  a 
listener  was  present;  but  his  rod  shivered  like  a  stem  of 
glass,  while  a  Voice  cried  above,  "  As  this  rod  is  shivered,  so 
shall  all  sorceries  be  destroyed." 


703.  The  Archetypal  American  Commonwealth  is  placed  in 
the  centre  of  the  new  Heaven,  because  it  is  the  will  of  Al- 
mighty God  that  the  pivotal  power  of  the  earth  shall  descend 
through  it,  and  that  it  shall  become,  through  human  obedience, 
the  central  power  on  earth,  representing  Divine  harmony 
above.  I  saw  the  banner  of  this  Republic,  which  represents 
the  starry  heaven,  illumined  with  a  cross  of  fire  displayed  in 
the  sun_,  and  emblazoned  with  the  words,  "  Christ  conquers  all." 


SEC.  702—705.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  387 


704.  It  is  represented  as  encompassed  by  a  triple  wall. 
Firstj  from  witliout_,  are  seen  battlements  of  brass^  polished  to 
glittering  clearness.  Above  these  rise  crystallized  silver  ram- 
partSj  tkrougb.  wMcli  the  light  is  soft^  fleecy^  and  impearled. 
The  innermost  circle  of  walls  is  invisible,  except  as  seen 
through  the  silver ;  they  are  of  gold,  or  its  ,  correspondence, 
through  which  flushes  a  soft  crimson  as  of  the  perfect  dawn. 
I  was  conducted  thither  in  company  with  an  angel,  represent- 
ing the  Mourning  Church  (see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  562),  who  had 
himself  occupied  an  imperial  office.  We  were  stopped  at  the 
gate  of  brass  with  the  inquiry,  "  Whom  do  you  serve  ?  ''  and 
I  answered,  "  The  living  God,  the  Lord ; "  upon  which  ac- 
knowledgment we  were  led  to  the  silver  gate,  where  the 
warder  propounded  the  inquiry,  "  What  is  the  use  which  calls 
you  here  ? "  to  which  I  answered,  "  The  King's  service.''^ 
When  I  had  thus  said,  he  replied  ''  The  King  of  kings,  and 
the  Lord  of  lords  ;  "  and  I  responded,  "  Who  is  alive  and  was 
dead,  and  now  liveth  and  reigneth  forevermore ;  slain  as  to 
His  Human,  now  infinitely  glorified  by  the  involution  of  the 
Human  in  the  Divine.'"  The  gate  then  opened,  and  there 
appeared  within  it  a  vortex  of  burning  fire ;  and  I  smiled,  be- 
holding it,  for  it  was  the  fire  of  respiration  in  the  celestial- 
ultimate  degree.  Thereupon  the  warder,  pointing  to  us,  said, 
"  The  King's  servants  are  those  who  are  able  to  walk  in  the 
King's  paths."  I  answered  him,  "Even  so,  for  I  possess  a 
new  natural  soul,  which  my  Lord  has  given  me,  to  which  this 
heat  is  most  congenial ;  it  is  the  path  of  respiration  for  open 
breathing  men."  All  this  while  the  angel  with  me  said  no- 
things being  of  a  superior  degree. 

705.  As  with  the  swiftness  of  thought,  we  passed  up  this 
vortical  avenue,  and  in  a  short  time  beheld  an  inner  gateway, 
where  stood  a  man  clothed  in  flamy  purple.  We  paused  before 
him,  being  restrained  by  the  resistance  of  his  breath.  He  be- 
gan in  words  corresponding  to  those,  but  containing  arcana 
within  them  of  infinite  beauty.  "  The  Lord  is  in  this  place, 
and  this  is  as  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of  Heaven."  I 
replied  in  words  given  mc,  "  Blessed  are  they  who  have  come 
up  through  great  tribulation,  and  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb ;  and  blessed  are  they 

B  B  2 


388  AUGANA    OF   CEBISTIANITY.  [chap.  hi. 

who  keep  His  commandments^. that  they  may  enter  in  through 
the  gates  into  the  city."  When  I  had  thus  spoken,  he  rephed, 
"  Upon  what  ground  do  you  enter  ?"  In  words  also  given,  I 
said,  "  On  the  new  ground ;"  at  this  he  made  response,  "  AVTiat 
new  ground  ?"  I  said,  "  The  only  possible  ground,  as  all  other 
ground  must  bo  swallowed  up,"  martyr  love,  the  faith  of  mar- 
tyr love,  and  the  hope,  service,  and  life  thereof.  "  First,"  came 
the  voice,  ''  I  must  test  you  ;"  and  I  replied,  "  Willingly  and 
joyfully."  He  then  put  his  hand  upon  my  breast  and  drew  it 
out  white,  then  put  his  hand  upon  my  head,  and  drew  it  back 
with  the  same  whiteness.  When  he  had  done  so,  two  birds 
appeared  at  his  right  upon  a  myrtle-tree,  one  of  them  a 
harmonic  eagle,  and  the  other  a  harmonic  dove ;  and  on  the  left 
appeared,  upon  a  corresponding  tree,  two  other  birds  of  a  similar 
kind.  My  heart  was  glad  and  my  mind  rejoiced  witliin  me. 
^^You  have  come  just  in  time,"  sweetly  and  solemnly  this 
keeper  said ;  "  had  you  tarried  by  the  way,  this  door  would  have 
been  closed.     Enter." 

706.  When  I  had  entered,  my  former  garments  were  taken 
away,  or  rather  dropped  in  atoms,  and  I  was  clothed  in  raiment 
wholly  new,  such  as  is  worn  in  that  society,  and  conducted  for 
a  short  time  into  an  apartment  built  as  in  the  wall,  over  whose 
door  was  the  inscription,  "  The  strength  of  the  hills  is  about 
thee,  and  the  everlasting  arms  thy  defence."  I  observed  in  the 
east  door  of  the  arch  a  cyi3her,  "  G.  W.,"  and  on  turning  beheld 
a  man  in  the  full  beauty  of  youth,  attired  in  the  Roman  manner 
with  a  toga,  and  wearing  upon  his  left  breast  an  emblem  of 
office,  two  silver  crooks  crosswise,  the  unslumbering  eye  above, 
and  the  figures  of  sheep  below ;  the  whole  set  in  jewels,  and  in 
the  midst  the  legend,  "  Feed  my  sheep."  When  I  had  entered 
the  room  he  approached  me  with  these  words,  "  You  were  sent 
for  because  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand,  and  it  is  appointed 
that  you  be  initiated  into  the  work  which  devolves  upon  you 
in  the  earth ;  but  first  rest.  I  observed  that  the  apartment,  as 
his  words  proceeded,  grew  dimmer,  or  perhaps  my  vision, 
which  had  been  taxed  to  its  full  capacity,  was  being  closed ; 
I  began  to  breathe  more  lightly,  and  sank  to  sleep. 

707.  This  affords  an  illustration  of  the  infinite  care  with 
which  the  new  formations  of  the  Divine  order,  of  which  church 


SEC.  706—709.]         THE   APOCALYPSJE.  389 

Sardis  in  conjunction  with  Cliurcli  Tliyatira,  is  exponent^ 
are  defended  and  prevented  from  profanation;  but  this  also 
suggests  a  corresponding  defence  and  protection,  as  the 
Heavenly  order  begins  to  embody  itself  on  earth  in  new  un- 
foldings  of  the  Eepublican  principle. 


708.  Since  the  close  of  I860,  the  changes  in  the  Spiri- 
tual World  nearest  our  earth  have  been  very  great.  The  tu- 
multuous throngs  of  spu'its  who  gather  there  evince  the  wildest 
anxiety.  As  when  birds  of  prey  gather,  scenting  from  afar  the 
bodies  of  the  slain,  so  legions  of  infernals,  attracted  by  the 
prospect  of  carnage,  and  delighted  with  the  expectation  of 
nourishing  themselves  upon  decay,  rushed  from  their  Asiatic 
and  European  seats,  precipitating  themselves  upon  the  western 
continent.  I  saw  George  B.  McClellan  in  the  Spiritual  World, 
riding  between  two  demon  chiefs,  one  calling  himself  Kleber, 
and  the  other  Soult,  though  these  names  were  pretences.  I 
asked  the  reason  why  he  was  seen  thus  accompanied,  and  was 
told  that  he  was  fearfully  infested,  and  that  their  mission  to 
him  was  to  form  an  external  fatuous  plane  about  his  mind,  so 
that  he  might  waste  away  the  armies  of  the  E-epublic  entrusted 
to  his  charge.  I  was  taken  in  spirit  to  a  battle-field  near  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  and  beheld  about  a  million  of  spiritual  vampii-es 
and  wanderers,  in  the  middle  expanse  of  ether.  They  encom- 
passed the  city  of  Richmond  as  with  a  triple  wall,  their  mission 
being  to  deplete  the  armies  of  the  Republic  of  animal  life,  and 
to  nourish  thereby  the  despotic  forces. 

709.  I  beheld  the  spirit  of  a  man,  known  in  the  body  as  a 
bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  by  name  Meade ;  he  was 
mounted  on  a  pale,  spectral  horse,  riding  through  the  ranks  of 
the  vampires,  and  seen  by  them  as  St.  lago  in  the  legend 
moving  before  the  Spanish  chivalry,  a  false  prophet  of  the 
demon  god ;  with  him  were  many  ecclesiastics.  I  saw  the 
traitor,  Jefferson  Davis,  on  his  knees  in  a  private  cabinet,  con- 
fessing his  sins  in  a  fantasy,  while  at  the  same  time  the  spiritual 
demon  who  governs  him,  whispered  in  his  ear  encom'agemeuts 
to  the  belief,  that,  come  what  might,  his  calling  and  election 
were  being  made  sure.     Ho  is  one  of  those  whose  conscience 


390  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  iir. 


lias  bccu  drugg-ed  tlirougli  intercourse  witli  demons,  and 
wliose  lungs  reek  with  crime.  In  tlie  visions  of  the  night  I 
beheld  a  mighty  man  from  Pandemonium,  instilling  into 
the  breast  of  one  of  his  presiding  military  cliiefs,  a  subtle 
"wisdom,  a  defiant  courage,  a  policy  at  once  daring  and  circum- 
spect. The  same  demon  has  alternately  visited  this  chief  and 
the  general  of  the  Republic,  spoken  of  before,  so  connecting 
them  by  magnetic  bands,  forged  as  of  infernal  steel,  that  the 
positive  sphere  of  the  one  saturates  the  oppressed  mind  of  the 
other,  impeding  the  operation  of  the  mental  faculties. 

710.  I  heard  in  the  night,  an  angel  whispering  in  the  ear  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  "  You  must  emancipate, 
you  must  emancipate  •/'  but  at  the  same  time  the  evil  genius  of 
this  kind  man,  wove  subtle  spells  to  hold  him  in  a  state  of  ir- 
resolution. I  beheld  the  spirits  of  the  lost  inhabitants  of  the 
Slave  States,  almost  en  masse,  moving  in  advance  of  the  rebel 
hordes  ;  great  numbers  of  them  being  present  in  every  battle. 
The  wickedness  of  the  armies  of  the  Republic  was  the  cause 
of  their  frequent  overthrow,  especially  their  profligacy,  intem- 
perance, and  profanity.  The  South  was  characterized  by  com- 
parative unity  of  council  and  inflexible  decision  of  purpose 
but  the  North,  spiritually,  was  a  divided  house.  Ties  of  self- 
interest  alone  unite  the  present  States  of  the  Republic.  The 
nation  must  ultimately  perish,  in  convulsions  thrice  fearful, 
unless  the  present  judgment  is  followed  by  the  renovation  of 
its  moral  heart.  There  is  a  Divine  limit  beyond  which  disas- 
ters cannot  penetrate,  and  this  not  because  of  the  merits  of 
the  people,  but  in  view  of  ulterior  ends  in  the  councils  of  Di- 
vine Providence.  I  saw,  in  spirit,  the  present  usurper  of  the 
French  Empire,  a  thrice  devoted  son  of  Satan,  plotting  with 
his  familiars  how  best  to  rend  asunder  the  sacred  robe  of  Free- 
dom, and  to  cast  lots  for  its  vesture.  Woe  to  humanity,  when 
rulers  of  the  spirit  of  Iscariot  hold  seats  in  cabinets,  and  dic- 
tate to  nations  from  the  throne  ! 

711.  After  these  things  had  been  shown  me,  I  was  taken  far 
into  the  interiors  of  the  celestial  Heaven,  and  charged  to  have 
no  connection  with  the  pohtical  world  of  America,  it  being  said 
to  me  that  if  I  did  so  I  should  perish  in  its  disasters.  Liber- 
ty's final  hope  will  be,  eventually,  the  open  respiring  church. 


SEC.  710—713.]        TRE   APOCALTFSK  391 

and  those  who  labour  for  its  establisliment  are  building  for 
Freedom  her  last  fortress  on  Earth.  The  spirit  of  liberty  is 
abandoning  the  poHtical  social  edifice^  both  in  Europe  and 
America.  Events  must  proceed  henceforth  with  great  rapidity. 
712.  Prosperity  without  righteousness  brings  a  snare  both 
to  nations  and  to  men^  weakening  the  powers  of  moral  resist- 
ance, and  preparing  the  way  for  inevitable  destruction.  It  is 
impossible  for  state-craft  of  any  sort  to  save  a  cursed  land. 
Republican  Commonwealths  can  only  obtain  permanence  as  the 
right  of  suffrage  is  exercised  prayerfully  in  sacred  trust.  The 
price  of  Liberty  has  well  been  said  to  be  eternal  vigilance. 
Men  cruel  as  Jeffreys,  and  corrupt  as  Titus  Gates,  at  the  present 
day,  through  the  influence  of  party  organization,  gain  the 
suffrage  of  masses,  and  obtain  and  keep  representative  and 
executive  power.  The  liberty  of  the  j)eople  hangs  upon  the 
frailest  thi^ead,  and  there  is  no  hope  but  in  God.  Yet  let  not 
the  subject  of  a  Monarchy  exult  over  a  Democracy  that  tends 
to  ruin.  The  American  Republic  was  first  composed  of  sepa- 
rate states,  each  a  little  nation.  It  is  possible  for  each  or  any 
of  these,  wholly  given  up  to  the  Divine  guidance,  by  the  moral 
renovation  of  its  people,  to  hold  its  own  till  better  times.  The 
smallest  commonwealth  becomes  a  unit  through  the  moral  co- 
hesion of  every  element.  If  a  wave  of  open  respiration  passes 
over  and  takes  possession  of  one  county  in  any  state,  the  sal- 
vation of  that  state  is  no  longer  j^roblematical ;  for  God  has 
sworn  to  protect  His  servants,  and  has  entered  into  covenant 
with  them  as  with  ancient  Israel.  He  will  gather  His  elect 
from  the  four  winds,  and  they  shall  inherit  a  kingdom  that  can- 
not be  moved. 


713.  The  infernal  England  is  governed  by  a  king.  The  pre- 
sent monarch  is  called  "  the  Destroyer,'^  and  resembles  in  his 
heart  George  IV.,  in  his  intelUgence  Henry  YIIL,  and  in  his 
potency  WiUiam  the  Conqueror.  The  spiritual  rule  is  repre- 
sented by  a  synod  of  prelates,  corresponding  in  number  to  the 
present  Episcopal  sees,  and  they  style  themselves  according  to 
their  respective  designations.  These  are  connected  with  the 
infernal  Roman  and  Greek    Church   and    with  the  Lutheran 


392  ABCANA   OF  CUBISTIANITY.        [chap.  m. 

Episcopacy,  as  to  their  infernal  elements.  The  rule  of  uoblo 
families,  Avhicli  exists  in  Britain,  is  represented  by  a  correspon- 
dent rule  below,  so  tliat  every  ducal  or  lordly  family  has  its 
representative  family.  Those  evil  spirits  of  the  British  nation 
who  have  imbibed  democratic  ideas  are  excluded,  and  occupy 
a  zone  encompassing  the  former  cii'cle.  Theirs  is  emphatically 
a  government  of  terror  j  they  exult  in  the  titles  of  the  Eadical, 
the  Revolutionist.  In  their  genius  they  resemble  the  American 
Pantheists.  Theirs  is  an  increasing  power;  they  believe  in 
democracy  pure  and  simple,  and  at  the  present  time  are 
organising  their  Society  as  a  state  without  a  church.  Their 
zone  is  rapidly  expanding  and  pressing  upon  the  circle  which 
it  includes.  The  intestine  war  which  rages  in  the  earthly 
England  is  a  struggle  between  the  circle  and  the  zone. 

714.  Within  the  last  eighteen  months  [1867]  a  man  has 
appeared  in  the  zone  who  resembles  an  infernal  opposite  and 
simulation  of  our  Lord ;  he  styles  himself  "  The  father  of  the 
people,  the  friend  of  man."  Suave,  dignified,  genial,  balanced, 
moving  with  an  immense  rapidity,  attracting  spirits  to  himself 
as  floating  particles  are  drawn  to  a  vortex,  he  has  begun  to 
organize  those  turbulent  democratic  masses.  His  is  the  power 
of  the  arch-magician,  the  power  of  supreme  corruption  that 
assimilates  substance  to  itself.  For  the  first  time  the  ancient 
organism  of  the  infernal  England  is  imperilled ;  his  is  the 
regnancy  of  attraction.  Such  demons  rise  from  the  deep  Hells 
of  old  antiquity  in  the  decay  of  empires,  and  when  great  poli- 
tical changes  are  impending  among  men.  He  empowers  those 
who  amalgamate  with  his  sphere,  till,  subtilised  and  intensified 
in  thought  and  feeling,  they  become  a  moving  wheel  of  swift 
revolving  human  adamant,  whirling  amidst  the  zone,  and  war- 
ring by  means  of  an  impoisoned  mental  effluence  against  the 
powers  of  the  circle  and  all  the  organisms  that  cohere  therein. 
From  this  wheel  proceeds  a  light  which  simulates  the  splendom' 
of  divine  intelligence ;  which  shines  into  the  dark  spaces  of  the 
brain,  producing  there  intoxication,  exhilaration,  and  a  rapid 
action  of  the  mental  faculties,  and  instilling  a  courage  and  an 
energy,  which,  were  they  not  infernal,  might  well  be  called 
sublime. 

715.  The  power  of  the  circle  depends  upon  its  immobility; 


SEC.  714—718.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  393 


it  is  the  petrifaction  of  the  past.  But  Satan's  kingdom  now 
is  there  divided  against  itself,  and  the  elements  are  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  liquefaction  from  that  burning  heat.  Already 
those  who  inhabit  the  expanses  of  the  circle  which  are  con- 
tiguous to  the  zone,  are  infected  with  fears  and  forebodings, 
with  tremblings  and  palsyings,  and  with  death-like  torpors. 
Men  appear  there  in  the  streets  crying,  "  Equal  rights  !  uni- 
versal equality  !  death  to  the  aristocracies  ! '' 

716.  There  are  also  other  signs  of  change.  Within  about 
six  months  of  natural  time,  a  connection  has  been  established 
between  the  spirits  moving  in  the  wheel  of  the  zone,  and  the 
infernal  democratic  power  of  the  United  States ;  since  which 
event  infernal  armies  have  entered  from  America  into  England. 
One  hears  now,  throughout  the  inner  spaces  of  the  isle,  such 
martial  music  as  sounded  at  the  capitulation  of  Burgoyne  and 
the  surrender  of  Cornwallis.  The  cross  of  St.  George  is  quar- 
tered with  the  stars  and  stripes.  There  is  an  infernal  frater- 
nization in  the  common  principle  of  hatred  to  the  institutions 
that  represent  the  past.  There  is  now  a  presence  of  America 
in  the  very  air.  The  third  circle  will  represent  the  interfusing 
American  zone. 

717.  All  of  the  nationalities  which  have  sprung  from  Eng- 
land, as  the  mother  isle,  are  essentially  one.  There  is  one 
great  Anglo-Saxon  people,  interknit  in  the  myriad  comphca- 
tions  of  a  composite  familism,  whom  no  affinities  can  perfectly 
unite,  and  whom  no  antipathies  can  entirely  separate,  until  a 
disconnection  is  established  in  the  invisible  world.  The  An- 
glican type  of  state  religion  carries  with  it  the  seminal  prin- 
ciples of  an  aristocratic  monarchy ;  it  is  England's  invisible 
hand  upon  the  throat  of  America ;  but  Puritanism  contains 
the  seminal  principles  of  Democratic  institutions,  and  is 
America's  hand  upon  the  throat  of  England.  Church  prin- 
ciples involve  aristocracy  and  royalty,  while  Puritanism  is  but 
another  name  for  radicalism  and  revolution.  So  the  bad  man 
who  has  been  a  churchman,  gravitates  to  his  place  in  the  body 
which  is  dominated  by  an  infernal  hierarchy ;  while  the  equally 
corrupt  dissenter  gravitates  to  his  own  place  with  his  own 
kind  below.     How  wonderful  are  these  thino-s  ! 

718.  The  planes  formed  in  the  mind  on  earth  determine  for 


394.  AECANA    OF   CHBISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

cycles  tlie  conditions  of  eternity ;  wliile,  tlirougli  these  formed 
planes,  tlie  wicked  spirit  is  always  able  to  inflow  into  minds 
on  earth,  in  whom  similar  planes  are  in  process  of  formation. 
The  man  who  wishes  to  escape  infestation  should  never  choose 
a  haunted  house  for  his  abiding"  place,  and  those  who  seek  the 
new  life  should  fly  with  an  equal  swiftness  from  the  haunted 
church,  the  haunted  pohtics,  the  haunted  family,  and  the 
haunted  land.  In  a  word,  they  should  seek  to  emerge  from 
a  sphere  made  up  of  magic,  into  a  realm  whose  forms  are 
fashioned  wholly  from  the  divine  archetypes ;  otherwise,  they 
will  find  it  impossible  to  become  the  recipients  of  the  divine 
terrestrial  harmony ;  and,  if  their  spirits  are  finally  saved,  it 
will  be  as  by  the  ordeal  of  fire. 

719.  Thus  far  of  the  England  below;  a  gloomy  realm  that 
hath  no  dayspring  upon  its  darkness.  The  fiend  is  by  nature 
intrusive,  and  must  find  vent  for  his  restlessness  by  ceaseless 
aggressions  upon  mankind.  Where  the  avenues  to  Heaven  are 
choked  by  the  sins  of  men,  the  roadways  into  Hell  are  opened 
wide.  Whatever  bars  out  the  angel  lets  in  the  fiend.  Here, 
in  the  lustful  hearts  of  men,  are  fields  grown  ripe  for  harvest ; 
here,  where  things  exist,  not  by  reason  of  divinity  but  by  an- 
tiquity, the  powers  of  darkness  come  forth  in  near  approach  to 
the  light  of  upper  day ;  here,  where  an  appeal  is  no  longer 
possible  to  the  intrinsic  righteousness  of  things,  but  only  to 
hoary  custom  and  immemorial  precedent,  the  powers  that  work 
in  the  darkness  of  unrighteousness  lay  claim  to  all  their  ancient 
possessions. 

720.  The  oldest  human  relics  in  England  date  back  to  the 
age  of  flint  and  bone.  It  was  settled  originally  by  the  enemies 
of  the  Noachic  Church,  men  who  possessed  the  last  remnants 
of  powers  resulting  from  the  ancient  open  respiration ;  men, 
huge  in  stature,  demoniacal  in  aspect,  who  journeyed  westward 
until  they  found  the  remotest  clime.  This  they  called  ''  Hell,^^ 
from,  the  remains  of  the  correspondential  language,  which 
placed  the  infernal  region  remotest  from  the  east ;  this  they 
also  called  the  "  Land  of  Meat,""  swarming  as  it  did  with  car- 
nivorous and  ruminating  animals.  Here  they  lived  lives  of 
riot  and  of  rapine,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  that  singular, 
insulated,  secretive,  and  aggressive  nationality  whose  peculiar- 


SEC.  719—723.]  TRi:   APOCALYPSE.  395 

ities  yet  remain.      Their  crimes  were  great,  and  rose  up  to 
Heaven. 

721.  What  thousands  of  years  have  passed  since  then  !  The 
earth  is  far  older  and  far  wickeder  than  modern  generations 
know.  Those  who  first  possess  a  soil  have  an  advantage  over 
all  of  their  successors ;  for  the  qualities  of  their  life,  whether 
good  or  evil,  flow  into  the  innermost  space  of  nature;  planes 
are  formed  in  nature  itself  by  their  presence  and  their  action ; 
the  outgoings  of  their  crimes  or  of  their  virtues  are  stored  up 
therein.  One  murder  makes  a  house  a  place  of  hauntings  and 
of  fears ;  but  a  race  with  whom  murder  is  a  passion,  an  instinct, 
and  a  law,  prepares  the  land  which  it  wrests  from  primitive 
nature,  for  the  hauntings  and  terrors  of  all  subsequent  time. 
The  soil  of  England  has  never  been  dispossessed  of  this  abori- 
ginal quality,  for  it  requires  a  race  empowered  with  the  princi- 
ples of  an  opposite  vu'tue  to  institute  a  cleansing,  and  to  work 
an  exorcism. 

722.  What  long  generations  of  the  subsequent  age  of  bronze, 
and  of  an  age  of  iron,  whose  histories  have  perished  !  The 
rude  aborigines  whom  the  Romans  found,  were  the  wasted  and 
commingled  relics  of  the  races,  growing  feebler  with  time  and 
with  the  decline  of  primitive  force,  breathing  an  air  of  moral 
malaria,  and  nourishing  the  instincts  of  the  brute  and  the 
passions  of  the  fiend.  Here,  where  early  cannibalism  cele- 
brated its  orgies,  a  latter  cannibalism  immolated  men  upon 
idolatrous  altars,  and  ate  their  flesh  as  a  religious  rite.  Mexico 
is  still  accursed  by  the  Aztec  teocallis,  but  the  soil  of  England 
groans  with  buried  blood ;  the  world-soul  of  the  planet  has  been 
deeply  wounded  here.  The  Roman  came,  and  added  idolatry 
to  idolatry ;  then  the  Danish  pirate  swept  over  the  isle  with 
troop  after  troop  of  blood-thirsty  furies.  Last  of  all  followed 
the  conquering  Norman,  ''  sparing  no  man  in  his  anger,  and 
no  woman  in  his  lust."  Truly  it  is  a  doomsday  book  in  which 
these  annals  are  written.  Race  after  race  of  robbers  has  suc- 
ceeded in  the  possession  of  the  old  haunted  house.  Compared 
with  the  long  antiquity,  the  years  since  Norman  William  are 
but  sunset  hours.     Yet  what  years  of  blood  ! 

723.  Crusaders  went  out,  a  cruel  and  licentious  horde; 
prelates  and  nobles  remained  at  homo  to  wrauglo  over  the  sad 


396  ABC  AN  A    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

remains  of  liberty,  like  wolves  contending  for  the  fragments 
of  a  slain  lamb.  That  Norman  chivalry,  what  was  it  but  a 
long  oppression  ?  Ago  after  age  the  guiltiness  of  the  people 
has  been  absorbed  as  a  poison,  till  the  elements  reek  and  the 
earth  is  tainted  thereby.  Over  well-nigh  extinct  Feudalism, 
all-victorious  Mammonism,  in  this  last  age,  erects  its  throne. 
It  is  a  social  hell.  Every  man  who  sins  through  the  body 
infuses,  through  bodily  sin,  bodily  poison  into  the  body  of 
nature.  What  then  must  the  body  of  this  terrestrial  England 
be  ?  It  is  this  all -pervading,  elemental  taint  that  benumbs 
the  moral  rational  faculties,  and  that  makes  even  the  just 
connivers  at  the  iniquities  of  the  unjust,  till  Christians  take 
pleasure  in  the  triumphs  of  aggressive  war,  and  benches  of 
bishops  uphold  slavery  and  the  slave  trade ;  that  makes  this 
nation  esteem  itself  the  best  and  purest  on  the  globe;  that 
causes  it  to  sit  in  lordly  places,  the  Pharisee  of  peoples.  It  is 
rich  and  increased  in  goods ;  it  enlarges  its  storehouses ;  it  is 
the  fool  that  hath  said  in  his  heart,  "  There  is  no  God."  But 
the  crimes  that  are  buried  in  its  soil  are  coming  forth  to  take 
possession  of  its  body  ;  the  judgment  of  this  nation  is  at  hand. 
724.  This  is  the  land  of  common  sense ;  the  hard,  shrewd, 
practical,  bargaining,  money- getting-,  power-holding  country, 
that  has  undertaken  to  be  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  and 
middle-man  for  all  the  globe ;  the  land  of  the  heavy  purse  and 
of  the  strong  arm.  Well  has  it  thriven  upon  its  traffic  in 
human  flesh.  Men  dimly  discern,  in  this  hour,  the  sins  of  their 
fathers.  AVe  see  now  what  accursed  wretches  were  the  Cru- 
saders who  met  Mussulman  cruelty  with  a  worse  cruelty  and 
wickeder  lust.  We  see  what  thrice  besotted  tools  of  Despotism 
were  the  old  Tory  priesthood,  who  grovelled  for  preferment 
at  the  feet  of  kings'  mistresses,  and  held  that  every  crowned 
oppresso'r  was  the  Lord's  anointed,  who  grew  fat  from,  the 
spoils  of  rapine  and  butchery,  tUl  the  oppressed  were  mad- 
dened into  scepticism,  and  no  God  was  believed  in,  but  that 
false  god  who  helps  the  strong  against  the  weak.  There  is  a 
judgment  in  this  world.  The  enlightened  conscience  now  re- 
hears and  sets  aside  the  decisions  of  the  past.  Eighteousness, 
that  always  was  a  sentiment,  is  fast  becoming  a  science.  The 
thunders  of  the  four  gospels  are  loosening  their  voices.     Lips 


SEC.  724—727.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  397 

crushed  into  dumbness  for  generations  and  trodden  into  dust, 
are  faintly  lieard ;  and  lo,  all  around  us,  it  is  tlie  cry  of  our 
brother^s  blood  tbat  goetli  up  from  tbe  ground.  The  invisible 
Hades  lias  broken  loose,  and  like  a  subterranean  torrent,  men 
hear  the  hollow  voices  of  the  under-world.  Men  stand  upon 
an  earth  that  is  crumbling,  amidst  institutions  that  are  perish- 
ing, and  beneath  a  firmament  that  is  being  cleft  asunder  by 
the  swift  down-rushing  of  the  final  breath  of  fire. 

725.  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  would  have  repented  before  that 
preaching  of  Divine  Love  which  proved  ineffectual  in  Capernaum 
and  Jerusalem  ;  in  other  words,  the  nations  grow  harder  as  they 
grow  older,  and  as  the  world  grows  old  about  them.  The  truth 
that  would  reclaim  an  African  and  transfigure  a  Japanese,  pro- 
vokes, in  stiSened  antiquated  lands  like  this,  the  sneer  of 
derision  and  the  cold  smile  of  incredulity.  In  fine,  we  have 
marched  in  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  by  the  outgrowth 
of  nationality  from  nationality,  to  the  spiritual  west,  as  the  men 
of  the  age  of  bone  to  the  edge  of  the  material  west  of  the 
known  world.  We  have  graded  and  terraced  the  precipitous 
mountain- sides,  and  planted  om*  gardens,  and  built  our  palaces 
thereon,  but  they  overhang  the  pit.  For  this  land  in  the  future, 
there  is  but  one  of  two  things  possible ;  utter  abnegation  of 
self,  utter  abjuration  of  vices,  utter  casting  out  of  devils,  utter 
acceptance  of  divine  life  in  all  things ;  or  the  last  days  and  the 
last  experiences  of  an  old  man  grown  grey  in  evil,  paralysis, 
and  imbecility,  and  idiocy,  and  death,  and  judgment,  and  hell. 

726.  What  one  would  fain  hope  for  this  dear  England,  where 
so  much  wealth  of  generous  aspiration  exists  amidst  the  over- 
growth of  evil,  is  that  better  part  which  shall  not  be  taken  away 
from  her ;  the  lowly  place  at  the  feet  of  the  Master,  a  use  in 
His  service,  and  a  home  in  His  heart. 


727.  I  beheld  in  Archetypa'  an  illustration  of  three  things  : 
I  saw,  first,  the  process  by  which  every  form  of  the  Lord's 
incoming  harmony  is  to  be  inaugurated  among  men ;  I  saw, 
second,  the  processes  whereby  all  transitions  fi-om  the  present 
social  into  the  divine  social  system  may  be  effected,  with  no 
more  confusion  or  disturbance  than  characterizes  the  death  of 


308  ABC  AN  A    OF   CREISTIANITY.        [chap.  m. 

winter  and  the  birtli  of  spring.  I  saw,  in  the  third  place,  the 
stored  up  elements,  forces,  and  powers  which  are  laid  up  and 
prepared  to  infill  the  organisms  of  men  through  whom  this 
new  order  shall  be  established  in  the  world. 

728.  Hand  work,  heart  work,  and  brain  work,  are,  in  the 
divine  order,  inseparable.  In  the  foundation  of  new  society 
on  earth,  new  states  cannot  be  grafted  into  old  conditions  j  all 
things  must  become  new.  Between  the  old  and  new  societies 
a  great  gulf  is  fixed,  and  the  man  of  the  old  system  shall 
finally  be  seen  on  the  one  side,  hke  Dives,  wrapped  in  the 
lurid,  burning  mantle  of  his  embosomed  lusts ;  while  on  the 
other  side,  the  man  of  the  new  order  shall  be  visible,  infolded 
in  the  paternal  harmonies  of  the  primeval  and  the  archetypal 
world,  as  risen  Lazarus  clasped  in  Abraham's  bosom;  while 
Abraham  himself  is  visible,  folded  in  the  arms  of  the  resplen- 
dencies and  the  beatitudes  of  God. 

729.  The  historical  past,  as  Biblically  understood,  is  divided 
into  three  eras,  called  respectively  the  Abrahamic,  the  Mosaic, 
and  the  Clu-istian.  Abraham  was  not  in  himself  a  miraculous 
man,  but  was  the  subject  of  a  miraculous  guidance  from  with- 
out, and  from  above.  Moses,  the  next  in  succession,  unlike 
Abraham,  was  a  miraculous  man,  clasped  in  the  encircling 
powers  of  the  divine  attributes,  and  quickened  both  in  the 
spirit,  the  mind,  and  the  body  of  his'  will,  so  that  he  endured 
and  laboured,  as  seeing  the  Invisible  ;  yet  the  era  which  Moses 
inaugurated,  and  the  nation  which  he  established,  were  both 
non-miraculous,  in  this  general  and  universal  sense. 

730.  In  the  Christian  dispensation  we  behold  its  Divine- 
human  Founder  bodily  as  high  above  Moses,  as  he  in  turn  was 
above  Abraham ;  and  the  nation  or  people  whom  the  Lord  pre- 
pared were  not  selected  by  the  adoption  or  the  consecration  of 
the  family,  the  tribal,  or  the  national  instinct,  but  were  taken 
from  all  types  of  mankind  indiscriminately,  wherever  was 
found  a  nature  willing  to  accept  this  Divine  Leadership,  and 
to  overcome  the  baseness  of  self-love  by  the  divinity  of  self- 
sacrifice.  Yet  while  Christ  founded  by  this  incarnation  of 
Himself  a  divine  kingdom  in  first  principles,  it  never  was  ex- 
tended into  ultimates.  Unity,  fraternity,  co-operation,  liberty, 
solidarity,  and  harmony  were  all  mirrored  on  its  firmament. 


SEC.  728—733.]        TSJE   JPOOALYPSE.  399 

and  slione  above  it  as  tlio  stars;  tliey  made  tlie  niglit-time 
l)eautiful;  but  still  tbe  eigliteen  centuries  liave  been  as  one 
long  liour  and  power  of  darkness.  The  spirit  of  Christ  has 
been  a  quickening,  an  illuminating,  a  disturbing,  and  a 
revolutionary  element  in  society;  but  never  a  reorganizing 
element.  It  has  never  embodied  itself;  there  is  no  purely 
Christian  town  or  city,  much  less  a  state  or  empire.  The 
spirit  of  humanity  is  visited  and  profoundly  moved  by  in- 
dwelling Christian  principles  and  powers,  but  the  body  of 
humanity  is  unconverted,  unregenerated,  and  subject  to  de- 
spotic and  anarchical  rule. 

731.  We  wait,  then,  for  the  fourth  kingdom,  wherein  the 
spirits  of  men  shall  be  filled  with  the  Divine  Spirit  of  Christ, 
and  the  bodies  of  men  with  the  Divine  Body  of  Christ,  so  that 
the  ensoulment  and  the  embodiment  of  Chi'istianity  shall  be 
complete.  This  is  the  order  with  which  creation  has  travailed 
from  the  beginning,  but  whether  the  incoming  of  that  order 
shall  be  catastrophic  or  harmonious,  depends  upon  the  active 
obedience  and  conspiration  of  enlightened  men. 

732.  The  misuse  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  perversion  of  the 
New  Testament,  at  the  present  day,  combinedly  operate  to 
prevent  the  religious  classes  from  exercising  a  unitary  influence 
and  an  uplifting  power  in  the  world.  The  idolatry  that  is 
generated  by  a  blind  devotion  to  the  unillumined  letter  of 
Scripture,  is  as  ruinous  in  its  final  results  as  any  other  form  of 
idolatry  among  savage  nations.  The  Bible  is  a  help,  so  long 
as  men  make  use  of  it  as  a  means  for  overcoming  self-love,  and 
for  taking  in  the  Spii'it  of  truth,  freedom,  holiness,  and  self- 
surrendery ;  but  a  positive  evil  when  made  use  of,  as  it  is 
now  most  commonly  used,  for  the  purpose  of  quenching  the 
purest  and  noblest  of  all  our  aspirations.  It'  is  just  as  easy  to 
build  up  a  Paganism  through  the  Bible,  as  it  is  to  build  ujd  a 
Paganism  through  nature.  Scripture,  rightly  used,  becomes 
like  that  chariot  and  those  horses  of  fire  that  bore  up  the  pro- 
phet to  his  translation;  but  Scripture,  misused,  is  like  a  mill- 
stone tied  around  the  neck,  and  sinking  both  the  intellectual 
and  moral  nature  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

733.  Unless  a  man  can  divine,  spiritually,  some,  at  least,  of 
those  archetypal  truths,  from  the  descent  of  which  into  the 


400  AECAJSTA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.        [cnAP.  iii. 

world  tlie  Bible  was  written,  lie  virtually  is  left  without  a  reve- 
lation. Practically,  at  tlio  present  time,  there  is  in  Christen- 
dom but  the  smallest  remains  of  revelation.  The  Hebrew  race 
have  the  Old  Testament,  but  throughout  the  whole  of  that  eni- 
blazoned  record,  from  Genesis  to  Malachi,  they  cannot  find  the 
least  clue  by  which  to  be  led  from  the  dark  labyrinth  of  tradition, 
to  the  open  sunlight  of  the  incarnate  Christ.  So  the  sects  and 
nations  of  Christendom  have  the  New  Testament,  but  from  the 
song  of  the  Nativity  to  the  thunderings  and  the  trumpets  of  the 
Apocalypse,  so  imbedded  are  they  in  the  frost-work  and  rock- 
work,  in  the  corruption  and  the  petrifaction  of  dogmas,  rituals 
and  systematic  inversions  of  theologies,  that  the  whole  is  to 
them  an  inexplicable  symbol,  a  shining  mesh  of  glittering  and 
startling  but  incomprehensible  affirmations.  It  is  as  difficult 
for  them,  by  its  aid,  to  find  Christ  in  the  present,  as  it  was  for 
the  Jews,  by  their  older  record,  to  find  Christ  in  the  past.  Both 
of  the  revelations  mislead  their  bhnded  and  traditional  wor- 
shippers. 

734.  One  central  and  archetypal  principle,  seized  by  the 
intellect,  and  incorporated  into  the  life  as  a  working  power,  is 
of  more  practical  value  than  all  the  records  of  a  sealed  and 
hidden  revelation.  One  uplook  into  the  face  of  the  Living 
Christ,  one  radiant  morning  hour  when  His  Divine  Presence 
illuminates  the  personality,  is  of  more  value  to  the  individual 
soul  than  all  that  Moses  saw  on  Sinai,  or  James  and  John  upon 
the  mount  of  the  transfiguration.  Revelation  is  worthless 
until  it  is  interpreted  through  experience ;  till  then  it  is  like 
music  to  the  deaf,  or  sunlight  to  the  blind ;  till  then,  the  self- 
complacent  and  sophisticated  carnal  heart  makes  a  fetishism 
or  a  blind  fatuity  of  its  pregnant  oracles.  The  probability  is 
that  Christendom  will  be  deprived  of  revelation,  and  that  both 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  will,  until  seen  with  new  eyes, 
loved  with  a  new  heart,  and  understood  with  a  new  mind,  for 
a  time  be  displaced  from  their  position  of  supreme  authority. 

735.  Nations  possessed  of  superficial  enhghtenment  will 
not  long  believe  in  the  truth  of  records,  whose  seeming  dis- 
crepancies they  have  not  the  insight  to  reconcile.  It  is  con- 
ceded now  by  theologians  that  the  statement  in  Genesis  is 
not  a  literal  record  of  creation ;  to  this  they  have  been  forced 


SEC.  734—737]         TRE   AFOCALTFSE.  401 

by  the  stern  necessities  resulting  from  scientific  discovery. 
The  angel  of  Geology  has  put  forth  his  finger  of  stone,  and 
written,  "  Weighed  in  the  balance,  and  found  wanting-/^  upon 
the  ancient,  massive  palace  wall.  But  while  the  records  of 
geology  have  seriously  impaired  the  power  and  prestige  of  the 
sects,  they  have,  in  a  measure,  recovered  themselves  by  taking 
refuge  in  the  hypothesis,  that  the  record  of  creation  is  true  as 
a  magnificent  symbolism,  a  piece  of  Divine  picture-writing, 
wherein  ages  were  typified  as  days. 

736.  But  still,  Christendom  is  committed  to  the  literal  accu- 
racy of  biblical  history  and  human  chronology.  It  cannot 
stretch  the  line  of  the  generations  beyond  the  orthodox  six 
thousand  years;  it  is  committed  to  the  theory  that  makes 
Adam,  and  all  of  his  descendants  to  Abraham,  historical  per- 
sonages. To  admit  a  mere  symbolism,  or  picture-writing,  here, 
would  annihilate,  in  the  popular  judgment,  every  priesthood 
and  every  dogmatic  church ;  in  fine,  it  would  sink  Scripture 
as  a  revelation  utterly  out  of  sight ;  would  overthrow  the  house 
by  taking  from  under  it  the  foundations.  But  now  the  most 
reverent  and  cautious  of  scientific  thinkers  and  explorers 
claim  that  they  have  demonstrated  an  antiquity  of  at  least 
twenty-five  thousand  years  for  the  human  race.  Again  the  rocks 
have  spoken,  the  earth  has  revealed  her  secrets  and  the  re- 
mains of  the  immemorial  dead.  Where  shall  theology  turn 
now  ?  Who  were  these  fathers  of  humanity,  compared  to 
whose  grand  antiquity,  Adam,  of  the  creed,  was  a  modern  ol 
the  later  time  ?  If  the  Church  denies  the  facts.  Science 
rises  to  overwhelm  her  with  incontestable  evidences ;  if  she 
admits  the  facts,  then  she  must  bid  a  final  farewell  to  her 
long  line  of  antediluvians ;  she  must  say,  "  This  roU  of  names, 
from  Adam  to  beyond  Noah,  is  a  series  of  inspu-ed  symbols ; 
the  record  is  a  truth  of  allegory,  but  not  a  truth  of  history." 

737.  But  then  comes  the  last  objection;  How  do  you  pi'ove 
that  this  is  a  divine  allegory,  a  celestial  correspondence  ?  If 
this  is  a  divine  picture-writing,  you  cannot  ask  the  world  to 
believe  it  without  a  rational  demonstration.  "  Then  from'  the 
passive  hands  of  the  dogmatic  priestly  classes  falls  that  Word 
of  which  they  have  claimed  to  be  the  infallible  or  accurate  ex- 
pounders ;  then  Scriptui'e  finally  becomes  valueless,  except  to 

c  c 


402  ARCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

tlioso  wlio  receive  and  embody  it  in  tlie  inspirations  of  a  new 
life  and  the  harmonies  of  a  new  age." 


738.  I  saw  in  the  night  a  star  of  the  fifth  magnitude,  which 
gradually  increased  the  proportions  of  its  disc  and  the  intensity 
of  its  radiance,  until  it  became,  to  my  vision,  a  sun,  shining  in 
the  eastern  Heaven.  The  rays  were  pure  life,  the  heat  from 
them  pure  love,  and  the  light  which  they  dispensed  pure  in- 
telligence. A'VTiile  gazing,  two  men  approached  from  a  cavern 
at  my  left ;  the  first  an  Egyptian,  and  the  second  a  Greek, — 
both  of  them  magicians.  They  stumbled  as  if  blinded,  and 
moved  forward  groping  their  way.  Said  the  first,  "  Hereto- 
fore I  have  travelled  this  path  with  clear  light  in  which  to  see, 
but  now  it  is  night."  The  second  answered  him,  "  The  gods 
are  angry,  and  have  eclipsed  the  sun." 

739.  The  Egyptian  began  to  evolve  from  the  internals  of  his 
mind,  by  magic,  a  light  of  the  quality  of  that  which  exists  in 
the  Hell  of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  it  made  to  my  sight  a 
cloud  in  which  he  was  enveloped ;  smoke  at  the  same  time 
issued  from  his  nostrils.  The  Greek  at  the  same  instant,  and 
by  the  same  process,  enveloped  himself  in  a  similar  cloud,  and 
they  both  began  then*  upward  passage,  dimly  discerning  the 
path  which  it  was  their  purpose  to'  pm'sue.  At  length  they 
came  to  an  iron  gateway,  and  the  first  said,  "  This  is  new; "  to 
which  the  other  replied,  shaking  with  a  sudden  palsy  of  fear, 
"  We  are  shut  off."  They  both  fell  to  examining  it,  and  essayed 
various  magical  processes  for  its  removal ;  but  at  length,  find- 
ing their  arts  ineffectual,  they  began  to  sink,  until  finally  the 
earth  covered  them  up. 

740.  "  This,"  said  an  angel  who  stood  within  the  gateway, 
"  is  a  new  barrier  between  the  new  formation  which  our  Lord 
is  establishing  in  the  internals  of  the  substance  of  the  bodies 
of  His  people,  and  the  magic  of  the  abyss ;  behold,  and  note 
well."  I  took  my  stand  within  the  guarded  boundary,  and 
saw  a  space  of  hill  and  valley  encompassed  by  it ;  but  while 
gazing,  my  hands  were  attracted  to  the  slender  bars,  and  I 
took  hold  of  them ;  when,  to  my  astonishment,  they  dissolved 
as  water,  affording  no  impediment  to  the  passage,  or  as  air 


SEC.  738—742.]  TS:E   apocalypse.  403 

tliat  eludes  tlie  grasp  and  is  invisible.  The  angel  then  said, 
"  What  is  a  barrier  to  the  Lord^s  enemies,  is  an  open  way  to 
His  servants.''^ 

741.  I  then  began  to  muse  upon  the  obstructions  which 
prevent,  at  least  in  seeming,  the  enunciation  of  truth,  and  the 
publishment  of  the  laws  of  the  Lord^s  New  Harmony  among 
men;  and  while  thus  meditating,  I  saw  a  wall  that  had 
once  stood,  and  which  was  now  overthrown.  A  venerable 
ancient  sat  near  it,  costumed  in  Tyrian  purple,  with  a  crown 
of  mp'tle  upon  his  brow.  He  arose  as  if  beholding  a  stranger, 
and  after  exceedingly  kind  salutations  had  passed  between 
us,  he  directed  my  attention  to  these  ruins,  pointing  out  the 
traces  of  battlements,  the  remains  of  lofty  pillars,  and  the 
vestiges  of  covered  ways,  leading  me  from  place  to  place ;  but 
all  of  these  once  stately  and  ponderous  works  were  so  friable, 
so  honey-combed  by  age,  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  were 
ready  to  crumble  into  dust.  "And  so,^^  he  said,  '^they  are 
dust,  and  unto  dust  they  return ;"  and  said  it  sighingly  and 
with  a  far-away  voice,  with  a  plaintive  music  in  it,  as  if  the 
spirit  of  the  wind  of  night  were  wandering  and  whispering 
among  the  ruins.  I  fell  upon  my  knees,  and  cried,  "  0  God, 
if  it  be  possible,  establish  Thine  order  among  men,  amidst  the 
ruins  of  that  primal  order  which  evil  hath  overthrown ;"  and, 
as  I  prayed,  the  agony  that  filled  my  heart  found  utterance. 

742.  When  I  had  ceased,  the  light  was  resting  sacredly, 
cheerfully,  upon  each  sad  vestige  of  the  ruins,  and  they  were 
dissolving,  losing  outline,  and  becoming  indistinguishable. 
At  length  I  rose  to  my  feet,  and  still  in  deep  meditation, 
began  pacing  to  and  fro,  but  with  wearied  feet,  and  with 
the  body  bowed  by  infirmity,  in  my  heart  no  gladness  and 
no  song.  I  then  saw  lightnings  jDlaying  through  the  bars 
of  the  slender  boundary,  and  heard  a  Voice  moving  as  in  the 
swiftness  of  that  lightning  along  those  bars,  and  in  the  Voice 
words  unutterable  in  the  tongue  of  man,  words  pathetic  and 
yet  awful,  encouraging  but  overwhelming,  addressing  them- 
selves to  the  very  spirit,  and  winning  their  way  to  the  depths 
of  the  spirit.  The  last  and  feeblest  of  the  adumbrations  of 
these  words  were  like  these,  "  The  world  and  all  things  therein, 
whether   they  be  governments,. or  societies,  or  languages,  or 

c  c  2 


40J.  AECANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  hi. 

peoples^  or  marriages,  or  reasonings,  or  festivities,  or  sects, 
or  customs  and  ceremonies,  or  medicines,  or  inventions,  lo, 
they  are  wasting  before  ]\Iy  Lrcatli,  and  they  shall  perish  and 
be  obliterated.  I  keep  My  promise  from  everlasting  to  ever- 
lasting. I  bequeath  My  testimonies,  and  I  have  fulfilled  My 
words ;  and  those  testimonies  shall  not  perish,  and  all  those 
words  shall  be  fulfilled." 


Chap.  hi.  7. — "  And  to  the  angel  op  the  Chuech  in  Phila- 
delphia WRITE ;  These  things  saith  He  that  is  holy.  He 
that  is  true,  He  that  hath  the  key  op  David,  He  that 
openeth,  and  no  man  shutteth;  and  shutteth,  and  no 

MAN  openeth.-*^ 

743.  It  is  impossible,  verbally,  except  in  a  remote  sense,  to 
convey  to  the  mind  any  adequate  description  of  those  harmonic 
men  of  the  unfallen  universe,  who  inherit  into  the  perfections 
of  that  human  type,  described  here  as  the  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia. Respiring  in  conjunction  with  the  Ultimate  Heaven,  in 
union  also  with  the  world-souls  of  the  planets  and  the  suns 
into  which  it  especially  flows,  they  serve  as  illustrations,  in  the 
most  practical  and  concrete  sense,  of  the  divine  felicities  which 
that  Heaven  contains  within  its  bosom.  The  sensational  life 
of  the  harmonic  man  of  this  class  preponderates  over  the 
intellectual,  and  sentiments  are  interpreted  through  physical 
sensations.  The  truths  that  illuminate  the  understanding  are 
suffused  in  lovely  lustres  of  every  exquisite  variety,  as  if  the 
light  were  diffused  upon  them  through  canopies  of  interwoven 
tropical  flowers.  They  illustrate  most  fully  the  well-nigh  ob- 
literated truth,  that  every  bodily  organ  is  itself  the  seat  of  a 
subordinate  mind,  endued  with  faculties  of  a  corresponding 
sort.  This  is  seen  in  the  light  of  science  in  the  Spiritual 
Heaven,  but  in  the  Ultimate  Heaven  receives  a  vivid,  speak- 
ing demonstration. 

744.  The  terrestrial  harmonic  man  of  this  class  derives  his 
wisdom  principally  from  the  unwritten  symbols  of  the  Word, 
as  they  are  extant  in  natural  objects  ;  endued  with  a  fine  ob- 
jectivism, he  makes  the  earth  his  university,  and  his  teachers 
the  representative  objects  of  a  visible  creation.    He  detects  the 


SEC.  743—746.]         TRE   AFOOALYFSU.  405 

innumerable  flavours  tliat  await  tlie  tongue,  tlie  endless  sweet 
odours  for  tlie  nostrils,  tlie  soft  gradations  of  tlie  thousand 
colours  within  their  primates,  the  harmonies  within  their  har- 
monies, that  fill  the  world  as  if  it  were  the  living  breast  of  an 
inspired  musician.  He  makes  his  study  the  body,  and  esteems 
lightly  other  truths  which  refer  to  it  but  remotely ;  not  that  he 
is  a  body  worshipper,  but,  reverencing  it  in  its  completeness  as 
a  temple  for  the  Divine  Mind,  whose  structures  should  not  be 
impaired. 

745.  There  is  in  every  organ  an  articulate  human  voice, 
audible  to  the  soul's  ear,  by  which  its  pains  or  raptures  are  ex- 
pressed. To  interpret  these  voices,  the  harmonic  man  of  the 
genius  we  now  note,  possesses  the  sympathy  that  draws  out 
their  deepest  utterance.  Sensations  are  living  things  that  reside 
within  the  nervous  essence.  A  primary  number  of  sensations 
are  born  in  the  infantile  structure;  to  the  eye  of  the  angel 
of  the  Third  Heaven  they  are  visible  entities.  There  are  no 
pains  in  the  body  of  the  unfallen  man,  the  sensations  being  all 
pleasures.  The  diseased  though  still  living  sensations,  which 
God  made  to  be  pleasure-bodies,  since  the  derangement  caused 
by  sin,  become  pain-bodies.  An  exquisite  palpitating  creature, 
somewhat  resembling  a  white  butterfly,  was  presented  to  me 
by  an  angel  of  the  Ultimate  Heaven.  He  said,  "  This  is  a 
pleasure  of  sensation,  sporting  in  the  ether  of  the  nervous 
essence  in  the  region  which  corresponds  to  the  left  lower  jaw." 
He  thence  caused  it  to  enter  into  my  own  nervous  essence,  and 
I  began  to  experience  delight.  A  creature  sjDrang  up  and 
seized  it  with  sharp  mandibles,  containing  cutting  teeth,  and 
then  it  began  to  writhe,  while  neuralgic  thrills  afflicted  me. 
The  angel  then  di'ew  out  the  two  and  disengaged  the  one  from 
the  other;  the  first  regained  its  beauty  and  flew  away,  the 
second  changed,  as  the  angel  held  it,  from  green  to  Hvid  blue 
and  was  destroyed.  He  then  threw  out  the  creatm^c,  which 
a  demon  caught,  closed  his  hand  over  it  as  if  he  had  found 
a  prize,  and  revived  it,  carefully  placing  it  in  his  own  breast 
afterward. 

746.  The  joys  of  angels  give  birth  to  lovely,  sportive,  aeriform 
creatures,  which  flutter  down,  and,  undergoing  a  change,  enter 
the  nerve  essence  of  harmonic  men  on  unfallen  earths,  where 


406  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.       [chap.  hi. 

they  multiply.  The  delights  of  sensation  are  thus  perpetually 
maintained  with  increase  where  there  is  open  breathing.  These 
ultimate  angels  also  give  forth  bodies  of  pleasure  of  many 
varieties,  according  to  human  states.  Since,  however,  the  man 
of  the  church  in  Philadelphia  is  to  respire  in  conjunction  with 
this  Heaven  and  with  the  world-souls  of  the  orbs  under  its  in- 
fluence, he  becomes, in  a  pre-eminent  sense,  the  depository  of  its 
embodied  pleasures.  We  may  know  them  by  their  symbols  in 
nature,  the  innocent  birds,  the  gay  butterflies,  the  honey  bee. 
They  are  moreover  in  forms  which  correspond  to  objects  in 
the  animal  kingdom,  but  earth  affords  but  comparatively  few 
symbols.  The  pleasures  denote  the  loves.  As  are  the  organic 
pleasure-bodies  in  the  nervous  essence,  so  are  the  truths  in  the 
understanding  and  the  afiections  in  the  heart.  Eolations  of 
sympathy  are  maintained  between  man  and  nature  by  means  of 
these  pleasure-bodies  in  his  nerve  essence.  He  is  thus  at  one 
with  the  living  objects  of  the  woods  and  fields.  Nothing  is 
slain  upon  harmonic  earths,  no  more  germs  of  life  being  per- 
mitted to  unfold  than  are  necessary  to  maintain  the  due  pro- 
portions of  the  living  forms,  which  are  organs  for  the  outgoings 
of  the  Infinite  Harmony.  They  dissolve  rather  than  decease 
at  the  termination  of  their  terrestrial  cycle. 

747.  It  is  reserved  for  the  man  of  the  Church  in  Thyatira  to 
initiate  on  earth  the  ultimate  conditions  of  the  harmonic  orbs. 
He  will  eat  no  flesh  and  partake  of  nothing  which  must  pre- 
viously be  slain  for  sustenance,  subsisting  entirely  upon  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  vegetable  kingdom  and  the  milk  of  the  domestic 
animals,  which  is  the  most  concentrated  form  for  heavenly 
influx,  and  where  harmony  exists,  the  most  congenial  food 
to  the  afiections  of  man.  "  The  angel  of  the  Church  in 
Philadelphia,'^  signifies,  a  pivotal  man  to  arise,  who  shall  first 
become,  with  his  wife,  established  in  the  higher  states  of  open 
respiration,  and  who  shall  restore  paradisiacal  order  upon  the 
planet  for  those  of  his  type  who  shall  follow.  He  will  go  forth 
to  a  mild,  temperate  region  of  the  globe,  fixing  therein  the 
seat  of  the  type  of  civilization  which  he  prefigm^es.  The 
angels  of  the  Ultimate  Heaven  will  be  permitted  to  surround 
him  till  he  grows  ripe  in  the  afiluence  of  Heavenly  sensation. 
He  will  be  the  first  to  plant  a  garden,  called  Eden,  the  first  to 


SEC.  747—748.]  THE   AFOCALYPSE.  407 

institute  tlie  serial  arrangement  among  plants^  shrubs^  vines, 
flowers^  and  orcliard  and  forest  trees,  whicL.  shall  at  once 
sjmbolise  tlie  Heavenly  mysteries,  and  afford  continued  forms 
for  the  distribution  of  tlie  superior  influx  into  nature.  After 
tMs  time  paradises  will  become  frequent  for  tlie  deligbt  of  open 
breathing  men.  The  idea  of  a  paradise  is  this  :  An  area  wherein 
the  disposition  of  the  natural  world  shall  be  according  to  the 
order  of  the  series  of  the  affections  of  the  soul.  The  pomolo- 
gist,  by  affection,  is  commonly  of  this  class  of  men,  as  also  are 
those  who  combine  the  passion  for  the  pursuits  of  the  orchard 
and  garden  with  a  delight  in  rearing  and  tending  sheep  and 
kine. 

748.  ''  Write,''  signifies,  the  arcana  of  the  new  terrestrial 
paradise.  "  These  things,''  signifies,  particulars  concerning 
those  arcana.  "  Saith,"  signifies,  the  inward  declaration  of 
these  truths  to  men  of  this  type  and  also  a  knowledge  from 
good,  and  by  internal  perception,  of  their  truth  when  unfolded 
through  others.  "  He  that  is  holy,"  signifies,  a  peculiar  mani- 
festation from  the  Lord  in  the  Ultimate  Heaven  where  He 
communicates  joys  of  sensation  by  open  presence.  "  He  that 
is  true,"  signifies,  an  open  manifestation  of  the  Lord  by  which 
He  prepares  a  ground  in  the  rational  natures  of  the  angels 
there,  causing  truths  to  upspring  in  it  in  visual  correspon- 
dences. ''  He  that  hath  the  key  of  David,"  signifies.  His 
power  to  open  the  world- soul  of  the  planet  and  unlock  its 
harmonies  for  open  breathing  men.  "  He  that  openeth  and 
no  man  shutteth,"  signifies,  the  descent  of  a  new  vegetable 
kingdom ;  and  a  clothing  of  the  whole  world  with  comjoosite 
beauties  from  it,  which,  in  that  day,  the  Hells  shall  not 
be  able  to  prevent.  "  And  shutteth  and  no  man  openeth," 
signifies,  that  paradises  established  in  the  earth  in  the  new  age 
will  be  closed  for  the  security  of  their  dwellers  against  the 
natural  forms  of  demoniacal  infestation.  Paradises  may  also 
be  established  in  a  preliminary  order,  when  Chui'ch  Thyatira 
unfolds  in  conjunction  with  Sardis. 


Chap.  hi.  8. — "  I  know  thy  works  :  behold,  I  have  set  befoke 

THEE    AN    OPEN   DOOE,  AND   NO    MAN    CAN    SHUT    IT  :    FOR   THOU 


408  AECANA    OF   CRBISTIANITY.        [cnAP.  m. 

HAST   A  LITTLE  STRENGTH,    AND  HAST  KEPT   MY  WORD_,  AND  HAST 
NOT  DENIED  MY  NAME." 

749.  The  new  cultivator  of  tlie  earth,  of  this  type,  through 
open  respiration  will  become  aware  of  seven  facts  which  fol- 
low. First,  that  plant-life  is  rooted  within  the  sensations  of 
the  world-soul,  and  that  the  great  bounteous  mother  pulses 
affections  through  her  trees,  shrubs,  and  flowers.  Second, 
that  particular  affections  in  the  world-soul  for  man,  are  distri- 
buted through  particular  varieties  of  the  forest,  orchard,  and 
garden.  Third,  that  there  are  seasons  during  which  she  com- 
paratively withholds  from  species  and  genera  of  the  great 
series,  a  vital  quality  essential  to  the  resistance  power  by  means 
of  which  they  are  able  to  maintain  their  structures  unimpaired 
against  vegetable  contagion.  Fourth,  that  a  little  influx  is 
distributed,  in  amount  just  sufficient  to  keep  vegetable  families 
from  extinction.  Fifth,  that  the  world-soul  is  able,  through 
changes  in  the  typal  arrangements  of  the  atoms,  to  unfold  new 
families  from  existing  families.  Sixth,  that  no  terrestrial  art  or 
science  can  introduce  influx  from  the  world- soul  into  plants  when 
she  withholds.  Seventh,  that  the  same  fruit-bearing  trees,  during 
different  years,  contain  within  their  products  qualities  of  affec- 
tion deiived  from  her,  imj)regnated  with  an  essence,  now  from 
aromal,  now  from  terrestrial,  now  from  solar  luminaries.  Men 
of  the  three  types  will  serve  in  the  deliverance  of  the  animal 
creation  from  its  bondage.  There  is  in  the  animal  organism 
but  one  continuous  degree.  The  world-soul  would  respire 
openly  through  the  universal  animal  kingdom  were  the 
human  race  restored  to  harmony.  Great  changes,  modifica- 
tions of  types,  animal  wastings,  visitations,  quickenings,  and 
ascensions  into  higher  vigour  and  beauty  of  form,  purer 
qualities  of  emanation  and  attribute,  will  mark  the  pei'iods  of 
the  new  respiration  in  the  animal  kingdom. 

750.  After  internal  respiration  has  been  established,  and 
advanced  through  many  trials  borne,  duties  performed,  and 
temptations  baffled,  the  Lord  permits  the  voice  of  the  world- 
soul  to  be  heard  in  the  man  of  this  type.  Her  voice  has  some- 
thing of  a  quiet  grandeur  which  suggests  the  broad,  cloud- 
less horizon  at  evening  twilight,  and  it  seems  to  open  thought 
horizons  within  the  mind  of  singular  aspect.     The  angels  of 


SEC.  749—752.]  TEE   APOCALYPSE.  409 

the  Ultimate  Heaven  are  tlien  witli  man,  conspiring  with, 
her  breaths,  and  interpenetrating  her  sensitive  inflow  of  song. 
The  world-soul  can  best  be  heard  under  these  conditions  just 
before  and  just  after  the  rise  and  set  of  sun.  It  trembles 
through  the  being  with  a  rich  undertone,  as  if  all  earth  and 
ah-  were  pervaded  by  a  nerve-essence  in  which  it  moved  by 
vibrations  ;  but  its  voice  speaking  in  articulate  tones  is  heard 
within  the  breast. 

751.  "1  know  thy  works/^  signifies,  how  much  the  man  of 
this  type  must  suffer,  bear,  achieve,  and  resist  in  obedience 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  before  he  can  enter  into  communion  with 
the  world-soul.  "  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door,^^  sig- 
nifies, that  when  the  period  of  preparation  is  worthily  fulfilled, 
the  world-soul  is  opened  and  respires  toward  him  and  in  him, 
in  due  rythmical  response  to  the  divine  respirations,  which 
supply  the  lungs  of  the  body  through  the  lungs  of  the 
soul ;  by  this  response  of  respiration  the  union  is  maintained, 
and  the  truths  perceived  in  and  through  the  Word.  "  And  no 
man  can  shut  it,'''  signifies,  that  when  the  world-soul  com- 
mences thus  to  respire  in  man,  she  has  power  given  her,  so 
long  as  there  is  a  divine  respiration  through  the  lungs,  to  vi- 
brate to  it  by  her  breaths.  It  also  signifies,  that  this  mode  of 
communication  is  inviolable  and  fixed  against  the  assaults  of 
the  demon  world.  The  rest  of  the  truths  in  the  verse  pertain 
to  the  world-soul. 

752.  "  Thou  hast  a  little  strength,"  signifies,  that  she  con- 
tinually revives  from  year  to  year  through  the  rich  results 
wrought  in  her  by  our  Lord  when  He  was  incarnate.  "  And 
hast  kept  My  Word,"  signifies,  that  the  afiections  which  she 
has  contained  within  herself,  epitomise  and  represent  the  In- 
finite Divine  afiections  which  are  the  essence  of  the  Word. 
"  And  hast  not  denied  My  name,"  signifies,  that  though  im- 
personal, and  so  incapable  of  choice  between  moral  good  or 
evil,  she  sensitively  is  conscious  of  the  two,  and  absorbs  the 
influence  in  which  the  Divine  Name  is  present. 

Chap.  hi.   9. — "  Bkhold,   I  will  make  them   op  the   syna- 
gogue OP   Satan,   which  say  they  ake  Jews,   and  aee 


410  AB.CANA    OF   CnHISTIANITY.        [chap.  m. 

NOT,  BUT  DO  LIE  ;  BKHOLD,  1  WILL  MAKE  THEM  TO  COME  AND 
WOKSHIP  BEFORE  THY  FEET,  AND  TO  KNOW  THAT  I  HAVE 
LOVED    THEE." 

753.  A^Hien  the  unfallen  man  upon  liarmonic  orbs  begins  to 
worship  in  his  paradise,  the  world-soul  delightedly  responds  in 
unison  of  breath,  and  the  sparry  arches  and  fire  recesses  of  the 
orb  grow  vocal.  It  is  this  which  is  the  cause,  in  combination 
with  other  springs  of  harmony,  of  the  multiform  floral,  orchard, 
and  forest  groves,  the  unexampled  fruitfulness  that  enriches 
the  year.  If  she  brings  forth,  through  her  organised  forms,  so 
bountifully  for  self-loving  men  and  nations  with  us,  it  is  be- 
cause she  sympathises  with  the  dealings  of  that  Providence 
that  perpetually  seeks  to  win  man  by  mercies  to  his  aban- 
doned allegiance.  She,  sympathising  with  the  world-souls  of 
the  unfallen  creation,  is  preparing  at  the  present  moment  to 
execute  a  changed  office  with  man.  When  the  apple  will  not 
ripen,  when  the  corn  will  not  fill, — these  words  will  be  read 
again.  When  the  murrain  affects  the  cattle,  and  there  is  no 
remedy ;  when  the  pastures  mourn  the  scant  growth,  that 
exhibits  but  a  faint  and  sickly  hue ;  when  the  grasses  refuse 
to  reproduce  their  seed, — again  these  words  will  be  perused. 
When  the  blossoms  drop  before  the  germs  set ;  when,  without 
frost,  the  efiects  of  frost  are  evident ;  and,  without  fire,  the 
blight  that  attends  fire, — again  will  this  page  pass  before  the 
sight. 

754.  She  specially  inflows, — since  all  universal  influx  is 
composed  of  particulars, — into  every  member  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  She  brings  forth  now  in  obedience  to  the  provi- 
dential ordering  alike  for  good  and  evil.  Not  so  in  the  future ; 
she  will  distribute  then  to  him  who,  with  open  respiration,  is 
all  devoted  to  his  Master's  voice,  three  hundred,  six  hundred, 
and  a  thousand-fold.  To  him  who  needs  most  as  a  steward  of 
Divine  bounties,  most  will  be  given.  The  hand  of  avarice  will 
sow  full  grain,  but  reap  chafi".  "  Synagogue  of  Satan,''  signi- 
fies, inhabitants  of  earth  who  reap  and  sow,  entirely  disregard- 
ful  of  Providence,  in  its  distributive  laws,  and  who  use  the 
earth  as  their  own,  denying  its  sole  proprietary,  our  Lord. 
"  Which  say  they  are  Jews,"  signifies,  the  multitudes  who 
nominally  profess  a  Christian  faith,  but  in  their  hearts  idolise 


SEC.  753—756.]         THE   APOCALYPSU.  411 

tlie  self.  "  And  are  not/'  signifies,,  tlie  unreality  of  tlie  pro- 
fessions made  by  such.  "  But  do  lie/'  signifies^  their  states 
of  internal  falsity  and  evil.  "  I  will  make  them  to  come  and 
worship  before  thy  feet/'  signifies^,  the  abasement  put  on  such 
in  the  new  day,  when  it  begins  to  be  apparent  that  the  har- 
vests are  for  the  pure  and  bountiful  who  do  the  Lord's  will, 
and  the  famines  for  the  impure  and  covetous,  who  have  de- 
spised and  rejected  it.  "  And  to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee/' 
signifies,  their  discovery,  from  facts  palpable  to  the  senses, 
that  the*  world-soul  is  a  form  into  which  the  Lord  pours  His 
bounty,  that  she,  through  the  surface  of  the  earth,  may  distri- 
bute it  at  His  command. 

Chap.  hi.  10. — "Because   thou   hast  kept  the  woed   of  my 

PATIENCE,  I  also  will  KEEP  THEE  FEOM  THE  HOUR  OP 
temptation,  WHICH  SHALL  COME  UPON  ALL  THE  WORLD,  TO 
TRY   THEM    THAT    DWELL    UPON    THE    EARTH." 

755.  Within  this  verse  are  contained  truths  which  pertain 
to  seven  great  trials  to  befal  mankind.  First,  magnetization 
from  evil  spirits ;  this  has  already  begun.  Second,  enormous 
agonies  in  the  nervous  system  which  they  produce ;  these  are 
in  their  infancy.  Third,  poisonous  swellings  and  ulcerations 
visiting  the  entire  form,  though  sometimes  malignant  cancers 
will  prevail  in  portions  of  the  frame.  Fourth,  leprosy,  in- 
curable by  natural  means.  Fifth,  fever  burnings  at  night, 
and  partially  suspended  natural  respiration.  Sixth,  bronchial 
and  trachial  ulcers  and-  impaired  vision.  Seventh,  giddiness, 
which  results  in  epilepsy ;  all  of  these  to  be  produced  through 
demoniacal  action.  These  are  now  advancing  with  giant 
strides,  as  occult  influences  from  nation  to  nation,  but  of  them 
more  at  a  subsequent  place.  The  civilized  man  is  on  his 
deathbed,  and  the  Lord  will  cause  such  subjective  evils  as  are 
nourished  in  the  will  to  reproduce  themselves  in  diseases  upon 
the  bodily  system.  The  agony  of  the  good  has  been  pro- 
tracted since  sin  entered  into  the  world;  but  the  next  cycle 
will  see  the  refluent  tide  which  casts  the  plagues  upon  the 
bodies  of  the  evil. 

756.  The  descent  of  the  divine  breath  through  open  respira- 
tion causes  a  state  of  diminished  vigour,  marked  by  many 


412  ABOANA    OF    CRBISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

peculiarities,  wliicli  occupies  seven  years,  a  period  wliich  may 
be  mucli  increased,  though  seldom  much  lessened.  There  are 
twenty  years  afterward,  likewise  extended  or  abridged,  of 
such  consummate  strength  that  the  performances  of  one  man 
may  astonish  millions.  Of  the  trials  that  precede  it,  state- 
ments have  been  before  made.  "  Because  thou  hast  kept  the 
word  of  my  patience,"  signifies,  that  the  endurance  quality  in 
man,  having  been  brought  out  through  the  seven  years,  he 
will  enter  into  twenty  years  called  "  omnipotence,^^  being  all 
powerful  to  accomplish  every  end  for  which  he  "is  set  apart. 
He  represents  the  Divine  Conqueror.  There  are  periods  be- 
tween these  states.  "  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of 
temptation,^'  signifies,  the  new  cycle  of  power,  during  which 
he  goes  forth  from  conquering  to  conquer.  It  also  signifies, 
his  exemption  from  the  bodily  scourges  that  smite  mankind. 
"  Which  shall  come  upon  all  the  world,"  signifies,  the  uni- 
versality of  these  bodily  scourges  as  they  increase.  "  To  try 
them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth,"  signifies,  the  special  end 
which  the  Lord  has  in  these  scom-ges. 

757.  These  are,  first,  to  deploy  the  sins  of  the  spirit  into  the 
organs  of  the  body;  second,  to  exhibit  the  loathsomeness  of 
evil  by  its  physical  ultimations ;  third,  to  convict  the  natural 
scientific  man  of  powerlessness  to  arrest,  ward  ofi",  or  remove 
God's  judgments ;  fourth,  to  demonstrate  the  utter  incapacity 
of  the  decayed  religions  and  their  priesthoods ;  fifth,  to  bring 
on,  by  desolations,  a  state  of  human  humiliation,  after  which 
the  preaching  of  the  Word  through  open  respiration  will  pre- 
vail ;  sixth,  to  dissipate  the  common  error  that  sin  cannot  be 
reproduced  in  the  natural  system,  by  showing  man  that  his 
deeds  in  the  body  must  come  to  judgment ;  and  seventh,  to 
point  on  the  faithful  to  a  period  wherein  Satan's  kingdom  in  the 
human  body,  in  nature,  in  society,  no  less  than  in  the  worlds 
of  emotions  and  ideas,  shall  be  overthrown  and  swept  away. 

758.  ''  To  try  them,"  also  signifies,  seven  trials  which  shall 
call  out  men's  latent  qualities,  removing  the  artificial  incrus- 
tation which  obscures  the  hidden  mind  and  heart.  The  first 
trial  will  be  through  subjective  visions ;  the  fiery  sword  cleav- 
ing the  firmament,  dreadful  and  terrible,  around  whose  swift 
passage  the  atmosj^heres  burst  in  flame ;  the  trumpet,  sound- 


SEC.  757—760.]  TSi:   APOCALYPSE.  413 

ing  from  tlie  east  to  the  westj  while  tlie  fire-floods  seem  to 
roll  beneath  it^  giving  up  the  lost  who  move  palely  over  the 
billows  like  aflFrighted  men ;  the  world-soulj  a  mighty  woman^ 
throned  upon  the  orb,  holding  the  burning  keys  of  the  sepul- 
chres, and  waiting  to  cast  them  at  His  feet  who  comes  to 
judgment ;  the  locusts  with  crowns  upon  their  heads,  rising 
through  the  bowels  of  the  earth  and  stinging  and  killing  the 
bodies  of  mankind.  These  and  myriad  others  will  revolution- 
ize the  world  of  sleep,  and  men  will  tremble  at  the  bed  and 
fear  the  coming  of  nightfall  as  if  one  were  the  sepulchre,  and 
the  other  that  nio-ht  wherein  no  man  can  wake.    It  is  not  far  ! 

759.  The  second  trial  is  the  anguish  of  the  sensational 
organs  which  lie  about  the  heart.  It  will  seem  as  if  a  being 
were  there,  apart  from  the  consciousness,  yet  with  a  sensitive 
life  peculiar  to  itself,  and  ever  and  anon  communicating  mys- 
terious, thrilling  pains.  This  will  never  leave  men  till  they 
are  wholly  delivered  from  evil,  or  buried  in  it.  I  am  not  per- 
mitted to  speak  of  what  this  is ;  but  when  it  is  most  utterly 
still,  we  have  most  reason  to  tremble  at  our  states,  and  when 
we  most  are  awakened  by  its  unwelcome  presence,  to  self- 
examination,  repentance,  and  zeal  for  right  things,  we  have 
most  reason  to  believe  that  our  salvation  will  not  tarry.  The 
third  trial  is  the  night  siren  to  the  man,  and  her  conjoined 
male  spirit  to  the  woman.  The  night  siren  never  haunts  by 
day,  nor  during  wakefulness,  but  the  dead  hours  and  states  of 
repose  are  scented  by  her  as  the  wolf  scents  the  dead.  She 
brings  on  by  contact  with  the  man,  through  sleep,  one  of  two 
things,  intense  desires  for  adulterous  delights,  or  most  fearful 
agonized  combats,  during  which  he  seems  contending  against 
their  embodied  representatives.  Less  powerful  as  a  rule 
against  the  opposite  sex,  a  corresponding  trial  nevertheless 
occurs. 

760.  A  fourth  trial  is  the  iron  hand.  This  comes  forth 
from  utter  darkness ;  it  first  is  felt  lightly,  touching  the  hair, 
or  softly  tapping  on  the  forehead,  or  delicately  imprinting 
the  cheek  or  chin ;  it  is  then  discovered  with  a  nice  adjust- 
ment thrilling  with  manipulation  some  organ  of  the  greater  or 
lesser  brain.  It  is  produced  as  follows  :  men  who  have  sinned 
most  through  the  hand,  as  murderers,  ruiners,  and  the  like. 


411.  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  [ohap.  hi. 

are  souglit  out  after  tliey  liave  "been  cast  into  Hell ;  the  liand 
having  been  the  chief  agent  of  wickedness  holds  in  it  as  a 
result  a  bony  hardness  of  the  passions  which  have  become 
scoria.  These,  fused  in  the  volcanic^  seething  vortex  of  the 
being  of  a  mighty  child  of  crime,  are  ultimately  injected  into 
some  murderous  sjairit,  yet  wandering  in  the  invisible  realms 
of  nature,  with  a  magnetic  body,  which  brings  him  near  to 
man.  By  degrees  he  is  conscious  that  a  vast  inspiration 
possesses  him,  and  his  hand  becomes  to  the  finer  natural  sight 
like  black  iron  emitting  sparks,  which  are  now  fierce  from  the 
fever,  and  then  cold,  frost-like  and  death-like,  from  the  chill 
of  the  infernal  world.  It  is  this  iron  hand  that  is  the  chief 
agent  in  the  greater  part  of  the  physical  manifestations  from 
spirits  at  this  day.  Soothed  and  delighted  by  it,  the  child  of 
time  and  sense  imagines  the  manifestation  to  be  from  some 
kind  angel,  nor  is  it  discovered  to  be  otherwise,  except  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  awakening  suspicion  and  rousing  the  heart  to 
rigorous  self-examination  and  a  holy  life.  There  is  no  limit 
to  which  odious  familiarities,  through  this  object,  may  be 
carried,  unless  barriers  in  the  moral  nature  interpose.  Its 
caresses  are  to  be  feared  and  shunned,  for  it  inevitably  ruins 
the  soul  that  does  not  rise  in  the  appeal  to  God  for  victory 
over  it.  It  becomes  a  necessity  of  life  to  those  who  yield 
criminally  to  it.  After  a  while,  God  sometimes  overrules  it 
for  good,  in  this,  that  sooner  or  later  a  decision  is  forced,  and 
a  rapid  combat,  either  .of  the  sinful  heart  to  put  away  the  Spirit 
of  God,  or  the  yearning,  struggling,  changing  heart,  to  have 
God^s  Holy  Spirit  enter  it  and  overcome  the  destroyer. 

761.  A  fifth  trial  is  the  death  tick.  This  is  produced  by 
the  insinuation  of  a  species  of  creeping  worm  into  the  finer 
parts  of  the  nervous  fluid.  Wherever  it  can  find  in  the  organ- 
ization a  place  where  the  nerve  essence  exudes,  it  absorbs 
into  itself  the  animal  spirits.  Sometimes  it  is  coiled  round 
and  round  the  body  in  the  netve  fluid  where  it  dwells.  Tor- 
pidity of  the  liver  is  sometimes  caused  by  the  presence  of 
these  objects  in  the  nerve  fluid.  There  is  a  ticking  in  the 
nerves,  loud  sometimes  to  the  sense  as  that  of  a  watch,  which 
bespeaks  their  animated  movement.  The  vibrations  produced 
announce  that  evil  spirits  electrically  surcharge  their  bodies^ 


SEC.  761—763.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  415 

producing  small  concussions.  It  is  tlie  peculiarity  of  this 
creature^  when  excited  by  this  mode,  pleasurably  to  stretch 
itself  at  length,  and  open  its  whole  coil  to  the  demon.  A 
sixth  trial  will  be  hand-magic.  The  human  hand\vill  be  taken 
possession  of,  even  when  the  other  members  of  the  body  are 
inaccessible.  It  will  be  made  use  of  by  the  fiend  as  if  it  were 
his  own,  and  through  it,  while  the  unconscious  subject  of  the 
attack  is  carelessly  unaware,  the  effects  of  the  most  powerful 
enchantments  will  be  produced  upon  any  organ  with  which 
the  fingers  are  suffered  to  lie  in  contact.  This  will  not  be 
confined  in  its  deleterious  effects  to  the  one  person  whose 
member  is  thus  subjected,  but  all  exj)osed  to  its  touch  wiU  be 
liable  to  injury. 

762.  The  seventh  trial  will  be  the  lamia,  and  this  the  most 
fearful  of  all ;  for  particulars  concerning  it  see  A.  of  C.  1,  I. 
656,  663.  It  is  by  means  of  the  lamia  that  the  demons  of  the 
lost  orb  will  inundate  the  souls  of  men  with  extreme  ano-nish. 
Near  the  heart  of  every  human  being,  in  the  nerve  essence,  is 
a  wound  organically  opened  from  birth,  and  inherited  through 
every  ancestor  from  the  first  parents  of  the  race.  All  thus 
bear  in  themselves  an  open  demonstration  of  the  fall.  A  long 
serpentine  stream  of  influx  is  projected  from  the  Hells  of  the 
lost  orb,  into  and  through  the  Hells  of  our  planet,  and  it  rises 
into  nature  tkrough  wandering  demons  who  retain  magnetic 
bodies,  clothing  itself  thus  with  coil  after  coil  of  subtle  poison. 
It  projects  a  small  exquisitely  shaped  human  face,  below  which 
are  iridescent  wings  of  emerald,  changing  to  vermilion  and 
violet.  It  puts  forth  from  between  infantile  lips  the  keen 
poison-tongue,  and  strikes  it,  if  possible,  into  the  spirit  through 
the  open  wound  in  the  nervous  essence.  These  constitute  the 
seven  trials  which  await  the  whole  earth ;  but  there  are  innu- 
merable heights,  lengths,  breadths,  and  depths,  concerning 
which,  from  the  inadequacy  of  language,  it  is  impossible  to 
write. 

763.  "  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation," 
signifies,  that  the  open  breathing  man  of  this  t}^e  will  rapidly 
pass  the  ordeal  of  these  varied  trials,  and  become,  through 
conflict,  an  adamantine  man  to  whom  the  infernals  find  no 
ino-ress. 


41G  ARCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

Chap.    hi.   11. — "Behold^  I  come  quickly:    hold  that   fast 

WHICH  THOU  HAST,  THAT  NO  MAN  TAKE  THY  CROWN." 

764.  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly/'  signifies,  that  a  crisis 
verges  on,  during  which  from  land  to  land  the  tokens  of  open 
respiration  will  appear.  "  Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast/' 
signifies,  that  the  new  man  in  whom  these  tokens  are  manifest 
must  isolate  himself  from  complicity  with  the  false  inversive 
movement  of  society  in  its  various  relations,  that  he  may  retain 
open  respiration,  in  its  incipient  degree,  until  it  becomes  estab- 
lished. "That  no  man  take  thy  crown;"  for  significance  of 
"crown/'  see  Nos.  2G0,  201. 

Chap.  hi.  12. — "Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar 
IN   the   temple   op  my   God,  and   he  shall  go  no  more 

OUT :    AND   I   WILL   WRITE  '  UPON    HIM    THE    NAME    OP   MY    GOD, 
AND     THE     NAME    OP    THE    CITY    OF    MY     GoD,    WHICH  IS  NeW 

Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  out  of  Heaven  prom  my 
God  :  and  i  will  write  upon  him  my  new  name." 

765.  "  Him  that  overcometh,"  signifies,  the  new  man  of 
this  type  in  whom  the  old  nerve  essence  and  natural  soul  have 
passed  away,  and  been  followed  by  the  new.  "  I  will  make 
him  a  pillar,"  signifies,  that  into  him  shall  descend  one  of  the 
many  vortices  of  breath,  through  the  Heavens  from  the  Lord, 
which  determine  the  movements  of  men,  and  establish  the 
foundations  of  the  new  society.  These  vortices  of  breath  come 
forth  from  the  Lord  as  columns  of  light,  and  whirlwinds  in- 
folding flames;  they  descend  from  Heaven  to  Heaven,  and 
stand  at  last  in  mid-air  over  against  the  man  who  is,  if  faith- 
ful, to  become  incorporated  into  their  moving  harmony.  When 
they  stand  still  in  a  community  encompassing  a  pivotal  man, 
so  long  as  he  is  faithful  to  his  mission,  the  new  kingdom  of 
our  Redeemer  advances,  souls  arc  quickened,  minds  illumined, 
hearts  fed  with  living  bread ;  when  they  recede,  sorrow  falls 
as  of  cloudiness  after  bright  sunshine.  These  pillars  are  the 
moving  tabernacles  of  Jehovah's  presence  with  man. 

766.  "  I  will  make  him  a  pillar,"  signifies,  by  imputation, 
that  the  man  with  whom  the  Lord  thus  takes  His  abode, 
becomes  strong  to  execute,  against  all  defiance  and  contumely 


SEC.  764—768.]  THE  APOCALTFSE.  417 

his  Maker's  will.  ''  In  the  temple  of  my  God/'  signifies,  that 
every  pillar-man  becomes  one  through  whom,  by  degrees,  the 
new  celestial-natural  firmament  is  created,  which  finally  is  to 
overspan  the  globe.  From  pillar-man  to  pillar-man  the  light, 
like  a  gigantic  column  rising  in  flaming  splendour  above  the 
utmost  clouds,  begins  to  incline,  till  gradually  meeting  the  arc 
of  the  pillar  which  is  over  another,  it  forms  a  perfect  bow  in 
the  clouds ;  and  when  at  last  myriads  of  pillar-men  are  in  their 
place,  the  bow  of  the  new  covenant,  springing  from  one 
to  the  other,  forms  a  terrestrial  firmament,  and  the  sky  of 
humanity  is  spanned  from  land  to  land  as  with  involved 
arches,  prismatic  with  a  seven-fold  resplendence  of  supernatural 
light.  The  men  are  seen  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  majestic 
light-columns  as  if  irradiant  with  robes  of  fire,  solid  and  bril- 
liant as  the  diamond.  They  upbear  that  moving  sky-harmony 
through  which  the  Lord  reduces  the  kingdoms  of  the  elements 
to  peace. 

767.  "And  he  shall  go  no  more  out,"  signifies,  that  no  man 
thus  called,  except  through  unfaithfulness,  loses  his  pillar,  or 
passes  from  his  pivotal  position,   but   dwells  in  it  where  it 
dwells,  or  journeys  in  it  where  it  journeys,  till   he  is  rapped 
away  in  it  in  the  final  horn*  when  he  leaves  the  earth.     "  And  I 
will  write  upon  him,"  signifies,  that  everywhere  in  and  through- 
out the  new  man  who  becomes  a  pillar-man,  the  angels  read 
the   names    of  the    divine    knowledges,    which,  as   embodied 
ideas  in  the  human  form,  are  a  shape  within  his  shape  from 
head  to  feet.     "  The  name  of  my  God,"  signifies,  the  most 
vast   mystery   yet   made   known.      When   the   pillar-man   is 
established  in  his  office,  the  lambent  embodied  ideas  of  the 
truth  of  Jehovah  stand  within  him,  and  are   a  typal  form  for 
the  display  of  the  infinite  attributes.       They  are  not  the  man, 
but  he  is  invested  in  them ;  they  never  subserve  the  ends   of 
his  personality,  but  reign   supreme  above  that  personality; 
and  God  binds  through  them  the  demons,  and  casts  them  into 
a  quiescent  state,  from  time  to  time,  when  they  rise  to  resist  the 
progress  of  that  fiery  pillar  in  which  he    dwells.      More   is 
contained  within  this  which  it  is  not  now  permitted  to  utter. 

768.  "  And   the  name  of  the   city  of   my   God,  which  is 
New  Jerusalem."      This  signifies,  the  new  harmony  for  in- 

D   D 


418  ARCANA   OF  CRBISTIANITY.        [cdap.  hi. 

dividual  and  collective  man,  whose  knowledges  through  open 
respiration  are  manifest  in  the  understanding,  and  set  forth  in 
the  new  life.  "  Which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven,"  signifies, 
the  harmonic  civilization,  celestial,  spiritual,  and  ultimate,  ex- 
tant in  the  societies  of  angels  who  all  respire  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  are  grouped  in  series  and  degrees,  in  nearness  to 
or  distance  from,  or  relative  position  toward  each  other,  as  the 
divine  breath  is  operant  within  them.  The  proposition  of  a 
recent  sociologist,  "  the  series  distributes  the  harmonies,"  is 
strictly  true,  but  practically  useless,  as  it  is  impossible  for  un- 
regenerate  men  to  form  the  series.  The  Lord  alone  is  compe- 
tent to  this  work ;  no  science,  no  scale  of  passions,  no  arbitrary 
force,  no  appeal  to  interests,  can  harmonize  the  relations  of 
man.  For  it  there  are  required,  first,  the  absolute  surrendery 
of  the  individual  to  the  Holy  Spirit ;  second,  the  descent  of 
our  God  by  His  Spirit  through  the  degrees  of  the  organism, 
until  He  breathes,  and  so  begets  volition  through  the  entire 
person  ;  when  this  is  accomplished,  men  are  classed  in  series, 
and  so  brought  into  a  position  for  the  evolution  of  harmony  by 
the  operant  breath  of  Deity. 

769.  ''  Down  out  of  heaven,"  signifies,  the  mode  of  the  de- 
scent of  the  new  harmony.  Man  inbreathes  from  the  Lord  at 
every  breath  in  his  new  condition,  and  goes  forth  whitherso- 
ever the  Spirit  will,  taking  up  that  employ  to  which  his  Master 
assigns  him,  labouring  in  it  with  assiduity  as  directed,  while, 
by  means  of  the  breath,  the  direction  that  is  communicated^to 
the  mind  works  itself  out  in  executive  movements  through 
the  frame.  The  illustration  might  be  that  of  a  shoemaker, 
who,  receiving  in  the  divine  breath  the  special  dii'ection  for 
the  day's  labour,  would  find  the  breath  begetting,  through  the 
nervous  and  muscular  system,  the  exact  series  of  motions 
necessary  for  the  perfect  work.  Social  science  now  stands  for 
the  first  time  upon  authentic  feet  of  fact ;  it  rests  on  two  pro- 
positions which  are  verities  for  body  and  mind.  First,  the 
inspiration  or  breath  directs  the  action;  second,  the  breath 
which  directs  the  action  begets  in  the  frame  the  series  of 
movements  necessary  for  its  accomplishment;  on  these  two  hang 
all  the  law  and  the  prophets.  The  office  of  man  is  simply 
joyous,  willing  conspiration  with  his  God. 


SEC.  769—772.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  419 

770.  "  From  my  God/''  signifies^  that  the  new  harmony  even 
in  its  minutest  points^  must  be  directed  by  the  breath  of  Deity. 
There  is  left  no  crevice  for  the  intrusion  of  self.  Man  accepts, 
in  open  breathing  freedom,  God's  will  for  his  will.  The  result 
is  that  discord  is  impossible,  the  Infinite  Intelligence  evolving 
every  unit  of  the  race  into  its  own  orbit,  and  afibrding  to  each 
ample  room  and  verge  for  the  due  perfection  of  every  faculty ; 
the  unfolding  of  the  germinal  soul  into  a  glorious  flower  of 
virtue  and  intelligence.  "  I  will  write  upon  him  my  new 
name,''  signifies  here,  the  whole  series  of  directions  necessary 
for  the  life-employment,  which  are  inscribed  by  the  Divine 
breath  within  the  new  man. 

Chap.  hi.  13. — "  He  that  hath  an  eae,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  unto  the  chueches." 

771.  The  solidarity  of  man  in  the  new  harmony  is  the  topic 
involved  in  this.  The  breaths  distribute  the  employments. 
The  perfection  of  the  individual  requires  relations,  first  to 
the  soil ;  second,  to  the  natural  kingdom ;  third,  to  culture ; 
fourth,  to  the  filial  series ;  fifth,  to  the  conjugial  series ;  sixth, 
to  the  parental  series;  and  seventh,  to  the  series  of  series 
above.  The  crushing  system  of  modern  society  subjugates 
the  human  unit  to  the  ferocious  demands  of  any  class  of  petty 
tyrants,  and  is  oblivious  to  the  requisitions  of  the  living  soul. 
Men  are  grouped  in  series  already,  though  in  an  inversive 
order,  and  involving  lust,  hatred,  malice,  guile,  robbery,  and 
war.  Rulers  constitute  one  series,  but  an  inversive  one. 
Francis  Joseph,  Napoleon,  Alexander  II.,  Victor  Emmanuel, 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  are  neighbours,  all  engaged  in  seeking- 
to  outwit  and  circumvent  each  other.  The  Pope  of  Rome,  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the 
Sheikh  el  Islam,  and  the  Grand  Lama  of  the  Buddhists,  are 
neighbours  of  another  series,  all  intent,  if  zealous  for  their 
respective  systems,  in  degrading  and  humiliating  the  chiel 
religionists  of  other  types. 

772.  The  great  iron  masters  of  Birmingham  or  cotton 
spinners  of  Manchester,  the  silk  manufacturers  of  Lyons,  and, 
in  fine,  the  subversive  chiefs  of  industry  everywhere,  consti- 
tute another  series,  unity  and  unanimity,  for  the  most  part 

D  D  2 


420  AMCANA    OF   CHEISTIANITY.        [chap.  ni. 

involved  in  fierce  competition ;  the  exigencies  of  the  market 
now  compelling  bankruptcies,  now  adulterations,  and  now 
sudden  pauses  or  changes,  destroying  masses  of  invested  capi- 
tal, and  driviilg  the  operative  class  to  beggary,  exile,  or  crime. 
Artisans  in  their  vast  varieties  form  a  composite  series  involv- 
ing many.  They  are  hordes  of  savages,  so  far  as  a  Divine 
order  is  involved,  following  the  supplies  of  labour  from  place 
to  place,  as  the  ancient  Celt  or  American  Indian  hunted  the 
deer  or  buffalo ;  now  gorging  the  body  with  coarse  excess  in 
periods  of  plenty,  and  again  stalking  gaunt  and  haggard  in 
times  of  want.  Middle-men,  or  traffickers  in  products  needed 
for  the  daily  consumption  of  communities,  form  another  series, 
also  manifold,  and  chiefly  predatory,  as  evinced  from  the  fact 
that  adulterations  of  all  fabrics  and  all  foods,  so  far  as  possible, 
are  practised.  Each  acts  from  self-derived  motives,  carrying  on 
a  social  war,  to  succeed  in  which  he  must  affect  to  undersell 
his  neighbour ;  an  odious  hypocrisy  being  generated,  as  a  rule, 
by  the  avowed  compulsions  of  trade.  So  illustrations  might  be 
multiplied,  showing  that  men  must  move  in  series,  but  that  as 
at  present  constituted,  the  series  involves  inevitable  disorders, 
corruption,  waste,  and  crime.  As  a  rule  the  buyer  expects 
to  encounter  smooth  deceit,  and  the  seller  to  accomplish  his 
end  by  equivocations  and  absolute  falsehoods. 

773.  But  in  the  present  social  arrangement  the  'chiefs  of 
series  prey  upon  subordinates.  The  chiefs  of  the  State,  as 
emperors  and  kings,  luxuriate  in  immense  profusion,  but  the 
subjects  of  the  series  range  at  but  one  degree  above  mendicity. 
The  chiefs  of  the  ecclesiastical  series,  as  witness  prelates  of 
the  various  faiths  in  and  out  of  Christendom,  are  sumptuous 
livers,  while  their  humbler  brothers,  the  dervish,  the  friar,  the 
village  parson,  are  often  hangers-on  upon  the  skirts  of  gen- 
tility, or  dependent  upon  avowed  or  secret  alms.  The  chiefs 
of  industrial  series,  if  successful,  emulate  hereditary  nobles  in 
expense  and  display ;  while,  periodically,  the  lowest  class,  or 
artisans,  swarm  the  streets  or  subsist  upon  the  most  meagre 
pittance.  Kapacity  characterizes  the  chiefs  of  series,  and 
smothered  hate  the  inferior  members.  Again,  certain  crimes 
may  conspicuously  display  themselves  and  be  matters  of 
universal  tolerance.    The  chief  of  the  state  may  be  a  libertine, 


SEC.  773—775]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  421 


but  must  respect  tlie  ceremonials  of  his  position.  The  chiefs 
of  religion  may  not  be  incontinent ;  they  must  respect  studi- 
ously the  dogma  and  ritual  of  which  they  are  the  titular 
representatives ;  but  avarice^  extortion^  simulation^  and  an  un- 
scrupulous ambition^  combined  with  the  most  odious  tyranny, 
may  characterize  them  with  impunity. 

774.  A  certain  series  is  also  obvious  with  the  female  sex. 
Women  of  rank  form  one,  conspicuous  as  holding  sway  in 
etiquette,  and  contributing  in  no  slight  degree  to  the  splendour 
of  com'ts  and  the  adornments  of  drawing  rooms  -,  but  it  is  a 
series  without  sisterhood,  and  its  heart  a  nest  of  buzzino- 
hornets.  Women  of  opulence  form  another  series,  but  the 
bond  being  the  possession  of  wealth,  its  loss  results  in  social 
oblivion;  the  feted  guest  of  to-day,  who  occupies  the  state 
apartments,  may  to-morrow  seek  employment  as  a  needle- 
woman, and  support  existence  on  a  smaller  modicum  than  her 
petted  spaniel  once  required.  Female  artists  and  women  of 
letters  form  another  series,  embodying  perhaps  the  noblest 
women  conspicuously  before  the  world ;  but  the  series  is  war, 
as  witness  the  coteries  of  reviews,  where  spite  and  detraction 
pm-sue  the  noblest  efforts  of  those  in  disfavour,  and  preten- 
tious, egotistical  works,  written  by  associates,  are  palmed  upon 
the  public  with  an  absence  of  truth  made  more  conspicuous  by 
a  ghtter  of  eulogy.  Witness  also  the  unhallowed  passions 
which  rankle  in  the  hearts  of  many  who  represent  the  stars  in 
the  firmament  of  the  opera,  the  concert  room,  and  the  theatre. 
What  havoc  of  character  behind  the  scenes  !  Another  series 
stni  enrolls  the  female  artisan,  commonly  of  better  antecedents 
than  her  position  indicates,  pining  in  a  faded  gentility,  and 
struggling  beneath  the  feet  of  the  social  crocodile  which  once, 
perchance,  she  rode,  with  little  commiseration  for  those  who 
then  suffered  as  she  does  now. 

775.  Another  series  introduces  us  to  the  class  of  house 
servants,  with  few  exceptions  utterly  unconscious  of  the  great 
internal  life  of  womanhood ;  sometimes  rising  far  above  their 
social  class,  but  commonly  eye-servers,  intent  by  ready  obse- 
quiousness and  servility  to  realize  the  most  of  profit  with  the 
least  of  toil.  The  series  of  female  chiefs  of  industry  is,  as  a  rule, 
more  false,  more  treacherous,  more  despotic  than  the  correspond- 


422  ABCAI^A    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  m. 

ing  class  with  man,biit  also  open  to  tlie  same  criticisms,  as  intent 
to  crusli  rivals,  and  perhaps  more  unjust  in  its  dealings  with 
operatives.  Last  in  the  catalogue  we  encounter  the  flaunting 
profligacy  of  the  series  of  the  women  of  the  town.  The  chiefs 
of  this  series,  who  often  riot  in  afiluence,  are  the  most  godless 
of  monsters,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  an  instance 
where  one  experiences  a  throe  of  genuine  contrition,  or  escapes 
demonhood  at  last.  Their  subjects,  perpetually  vanishing,  as 
often  renewed,  are  of  three  classes.  First,  animal  creatures 
coarsened  and  vulgarised  in  spirit,  corresponding  to  the  brutal 
type  with  man ;  of  these  nothing  need  be  said.  Second,  weak 
sentimentalists,  subject  at  intervals  to  hysterical  tears,  but 
mainly  unwilling  to  exchange  the  false  glitter  and  excitement 
of  their  position,  in  its  better  fortunes,  for  the  painful  toil  and 
self-restraint  of  the  woman  artisan.  Third,  a  wise,  prudent, 
semi-intellectual,  accomplished  and  utterly  heartless  class,  to 
whom  the  chief  motives  of  their  debasing  career  are  ease,  style, 
and  the  mixed  desires  which  induce  another  type  of  unre- 
generate  woman  to  make  a  marriage  of  convenience.  Few 
ever  reform  even  superficially,  except  from  mercenary  motives ; 
few  desire  to  reform,  except  at  brief  intervals.  Fourth,  a 
class  of  enslaved  victims  is  also  to  be  found. 


EIGHTEENTH  ILLUSTRATION. 

Eelentless  persecutions  of  open  respiring  persons  by  women  in  closed  con- 
ditions.— Effects  of  the  breath  on  women  of  rank  and  wealth. — The 
bravest  battles  fought  by  women  of  art  and  letters  in  the  new  order. 

776.  ''^  Write,"  said  a  celestial  woman  with  whom  I  was 
respiring,  and  in  thought  was  present,  "  these  things  for  our 
sex.  The  men  of  the  earth,  whose  respiration  is  not  opened, 
will  not  persecute  the  open  breathing  man  as  relentlessly  as 
the  woman,  who  hates  that  open  respiration  should  be  given, 
will  persecute  the  open  breathing  members  of  her  own  sex. 
We  will  give  you  the  reasons :  Woman,  when  she  becomes 
io-noble,  becomes  a  spirit  of  ignobility ;  and  where  the  man 
often  hates  but  partially  and  coldly,  her  passions  burn  with 
utter  flame.  The  woman  of  rank,  who  obtains  internal  respira- 
tion, will  seek  favourable  opportunities  of  stating  the  truths 


SEC.  776—777.]        THE   JFOOALYPSF.  423 


of  tlie  new  kingdom  to  tlie  sisterhood  of  tlie  series ;  but  to 
those  who  con&m  themselves  in  pride^  the  revelation  will  be 
terrible.  They  will  instantly  consult  courtly  prelates^  who 
will  arm  them  with  sophistries  against  it,  and  represent  the 
daughter  of  the  new  age  as  a  heretic.  Few  will  stop  to  reason. 
The  divine  breath  will  be  opposed  as  irreligious  and  hostile  to 
creed.  Daughters  of  noble  families  will  be  secretly  imprisoned, 
when  open  breathing  is  given,  lest  they  should  bring  discredit 
on  relatives.  Where  it  appears  in  royal  families,  the  women, 
unless  Divine  Providence  interposes,  on  the  charge  of  lunacy 
will  be  excluded  from  the  world.  The  woman  of  opulence  will 
be  deprived  of  her  fortune  as  insane,  where  liberty  is  not 
explicitly  guarded,  and  women  will  testify  that  their  sister  is 
monomaniacal.  The  woman  of  art  and  literature  will  fight  the 
br,avest  of  battles,  because  gifted  with  the  faculty  for  the 
various  presentation  of  sublime  gifts.  Her  j)ictures,  statues, 
sacred  and  social  melodies,  works  of  dramatic  and  lyrical 
poetry,  and  touching  quickening  prose,  will  identify  her  with  a 
school  destined  to  introduce  the  divine  literature ;  but  her  trials 
notwithstanding  this  will  be  very  great,  and  her  sisters  chiefly 
will  oppose  her  on  the  ground  that  she  communicates  through 
words  and  works  a  mysterious  delirium." 


777.  The  inauguration  of  the  true  law  of  the  series,  as  is 
self-evident,  will  restore  all  things  to  a  terrestrial  order,  in 
which  the  order  of  Heaven  shall  appear.  As  the  present 
social  system  is  the  result  of  the  operation  of  the  selfhood  in 
man,  modified  by  the  divine  influx,  which  superinduces  a 
certain  external  boundary,  beyond  which  those  who  commit 
evils  are  coerced  and  punished,  and  in  which  those  who  do 
well  are  protectively  encircled  by  a  species  of  guardianship, 
instituted  by  the  Lord  to  meet  the  anomalous  state  of  man ; 
so,  in  the  new  order,  men  will  deploy  into  harmonies,  socially 
illustrative  of  divine  truth  and  righteousness,  of  which  we 
may  state  here  a  few  particulars.  All  open  breathing  men, 
through  the  respiration,  have  the  guarantee  of  entire  integrity 
in  each  other.  They  may  fall,  it  is  true ;  but  this  involves  a 
finally  closed  state  as  the  consequence,  since  they  breathe 


421  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.      [chap.  hi. 

not  ill  tlic  Lord  but  against  the  Lord.  Instead  of  letters  of 
credence  or  confidence,  the  fact  of  open  respiration  becomes 
a  divine  guai^antee  that  the  man  does  the  Lord^s  service, 
enjoys  the  Lord's  favour,  and  has  devoted  himself  in  implicit 
obedience  to  execute  His  will.  Heretofore  all  social  schemes 
have  failed  when  they  have  come  to  be  tested,  first,  by  the 
incompetency,  and  second,  the  irresponsibility  of  human 
instruments.  The  honest  have  been  like  men  struggling  in 
darkness  with  secret  foes.  From  the  irrepressible  conflicts  of 
the  present  individualism,  upright  natures  have  endeavoured  to 
disenthrall  themselves  by  social  schemes  for  the  realization  of 
the  co-operative  principle,  but  only  to  find  that  the  attempt 
at  humane  union  involved  a  mental  friction  and  developed  new 
species  of  repulsions.  This  is  further  evinced  from  the  fact 
that  when,  from  convenience  and  economy  of  living,  two 
families  divide  one  tenement,  they  soon  find,  as  a  rule,  that 
the  wear  and  tear  of  mind  far  outbalances  the  material 
inducements.  A  city  of  brotherly  love  is  an  impossibility,  so 
long  as  in  the  selfhood  men  are  men. 

778.  The  introduction  of  open  respiration  for  the  first  time 
makes  social  harmony  a  possibility  for  mankind,  by  provid- 
ing an  adequate  punitive  system.  The  temptations  to  the 
abuse  of  power  are  so  great,  that  it  is  hardly  expected  that 
those  entrusted  with  authority  shall  execute  it  with  an  absolute 
rectitude.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  devise  any  human 
system  which  Avill  arrest  an  influential  transgressor.  The 
great  fish  break  the  nets;  the  beneficed  prelate  corrupts 
religion  by  chicanery  and  despotism ;  the  man  of  vast 
hereditary  possessions  and  hereditary  dignities  fearlessly 
debauches  the  morals  of  the  State.  The  law  is  made  practically 
for  the  rich,  and  the  poor  are  kept  by  this  knowledge  in  states 
of  dumb  protest  against  otherwise  intolerable  oppressions. 
No  power  strikes  the  popular  despot,  while  victorious  armies 
and  a  shrewd  state-craft  maintain  his  throne.  The  millionaire 
may  periodically  produce  commercial  crises  which  arrest  in- 
dustry and  ruin  those  embarked  in  trade ;  but  he  is  safe 
within  a  prudent  observance  of  legal  form.  The  crimes  without 
law  may  with  cost  and  risk  be  curtailed  and  punished,  but  the 
crimes  within  law  are  unassailable.     With  open  respiration,  this 


SEC.  778—781.]         TBE   APOCALYPSE.  425 

era  terminates.  The  man  entrusted  witli  power  among  men, 
through  the  beginnings  of  the  new  state,  is  absolutely  in 
the  grasp  of  a  law  which  no  artifice  can  evade.  It  is  no  longer 
a  question  for  judges  who  may  be  mistaken,  or  for  juries  who 
may  be  influenced  and  misled  by  skilful  debaters.  The  Holy 
Ghost  judges,  condemns,  and  executes ;  from  its  bar  there  are 
no  appeals.  Thus  in  the  new  order  the  chief  of  a  state,  the 
pivotal  head  of  any  series,  enjoys  by  his  position  no  immunity. 
"  The  axe  is  laid  at  the  root  of  the  trees.  Every  tree  that 
bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the 
fire.'' 

779.  In  the  new  order,  again,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for 
a  corrupt  majority  to  overrule  a  just  minority.  The  good  man 
finds  his  open  respiration  to  increase  through  faithfulness,  and 
jDower  increases  in  the  same  ratio.  If  smitten  and  per- 
secuted in  one  field  of  labour,  he  still  persists,  while  the 
column  of  Jehovah  in  which  he  stands  is  stationary.  If  men 
hear,  well  for  themselves ;  if  they  do  not  hear,  still  well  for 
him  who  breathes  forth  the  Master's  message;  he  is  not  their 
slave,  but  when  the  long-suSering  of  the  Lord  has  been 
proven,  and  the  dreadful  pillar  of  fire,  infolding  itself,  moves 
away,  the  pillar -bearer  moves  in  it. 

"  He  sits  serene  upon  tlie  floods, 
Their  fui-y  to  restrain, 
And,  as  tlie  everlasting  God, 
For  evermore  shall  reign." 

780.  "He  that  hath  an  ear,"  signifies,  arcana  concerning 
social  harmony  to  be  unfolded  by  the  man  of  the  church  in 
Philadelphia.  "  Let  him  hear,"  signifies,  discrimination  and 
perception,  by  means  of  which  to  evolve  the  new  heavens  of 
co-operative  industry  among  men.  "  What  the  Spirit  saith," 
signifies,  the  forms  of  the  harmony  in  its  practical  appHcation. 
"  Unto  the  churches,"  signifies,  social  harmonies  in  their  varied 
application  to  all  varieties  of  open  breathing  men. 

Chap.  hi.  14. — "  And  unto  the  angel  op  the  chukch  or  the 
Laodiceans  write  ;  These  things  saith  the  Amen,  the 
faithful  and  true  witness,  the  beginning  of  the  crea- 
tion OP  God." 

781.  We  approach  now  the  conception  of  the  noblest  of  the 


426  ABCANA    OF  CHEISTIANITY.       [chap.  hi. 

created  types  of  men.  The  man  of  tlie  Laodicean  cliurcli  is 
the  epitome  of  the  varied  perfections  which  are  displayed 
through  all  of  the  preceding  churches.  ''By  the  angel  of 
the  church  of  the  Laodiceans,"  is  signified,  the  Great  Respira- 
tion, after  all  previous  states  spoken  of  have  been  established. 
The  man  of  this  type  becomes  aware  of  a  slow  decease  within 
the  cortical  glands  and  the  cineritious  substance  of  the  greater 
brain.  He  lies  in  a  slow  trance  for  many  months,  and  awakes 
to  feel  himself  openly  respiring,  in  a  melody  of  action  inde- 
scribable, from  the  centre  of  the  solar  plexus  as  from  a  pivot ; 
while  at  every  impulse  of  the  divine  respiratory  wave  this  won- 
derful thing  occurs,  that  a  fay  soul,  residing  as  a  fay  man  with 
his  mate  in  some  human  extense  of  the  body,  arises  in  its  re- 
fluent action  toward  the  Lord,  caught  up  to  be  a  fay  an^^el  in 
Heaven.  Day  and  night  this  process  is  continually  carried  on, 
with  an  open  glory  impossible  to  discribe.  The  calamities  of 
the  flesh  are  ended.  The  great  respiration,  in  its  inauguration, 
is  marked  by  this  phenomenon :  The  soul  is  said  to  be  trans- 
lated, because  it  sits  in  a  new  nerve  spirit  descreted  from  the 
body,  and  encompassed  by  golden  families  of  motives,  who 
fulfil  the  volitions  of  the  Divine  Spirit  with  choral  obedience. 
The  breathing  frame  is  at  one  with  the  respirations  of  the 
angels ;  the  great  Saturnian  year  dawns  at  last ;  the  goal  of 
humanity  is  won.  The  great  respiration  is  called  "  the  angel,^' 
because  the  nerve  essence  is  now  organized  as  a  sevenfold  cor- 
respondence and  representative  of  the  highest  of  the  angelic 
functions,  the  function  of  obedience. 

782.  Besides  this  signification  of  the  word  "  angel,'^  there 
is  another.  It  denotes  every  man  of  the  type  under  considera- 
tion, who  thus  receives  in  the  establishment  of  the  great  respi- 
ration the  wondrously  organised  nerve  body,  and  its  con- 
stituents mentioned  before..  It  applies  with  fulness,  because  of 
the  entire  concurrence  of  the  body  in  its  loves  and  instincts 
with  the  will  of  God.  It  signifies  again,  the  workers  in  stone, 
wood,  metal,  porcelain,  glass,  jewels,  and  the  materials  of 
caligraphy,  for  reasons  hereafter  to  be  seen.  Metals,  minerals 
and  the  like,  are  presided  over  by  fay  men;  for  illustration 
of  which  see  Nos.  249  and  251.  These  vary  in  their  genius 
according  to  the  divine  aflfections  typified  by  the  objects  of 


SEC.  782—783.]         TRIE  AFOCALYPSJE.  427 

their  ministry.  In  the  establishment  of  the  great  respiration, 
the  moving  harmony  of  an  especial  fay  series  enters  into 
and  becomes  connected  with  the  nerve  essence  of  man.  In 
this  fine  connection ,  with  natnre  the  body  puts  on  throughout 
a  simultaneous  action  consonant  with  the  specialties  of  its  em- 
ploy. The  worker  in  stone  is  a  living,  moving  form,  in  whom 
tend  to  a  central  consciousness  in  his  reason  the  universal  pro- 
perties of  the  mineral  kingdom.  His  thoughts  play  in  har- 
mony with  the  concentric  circles  of  the  stone  world ;  the  live 
crystals  in  his  blood  throb  and  palpitate  to  the  music  of  the 
stars  ;  he  lives  in  loving  unison  with  the  denizens  of  the  mine- 
ral empire,  the  loves  that  express  themselves  in  its  prime 
formations.  The  world-soul,  which  pours  into  eveiy  terrestrial 
plant  a  quickening  influx  from  a  special  love  in  her  great  heart, 
impulses  into  this  human  tree  the  loves  that  shape  the  mineral. 
He  detects  the  art  by  which  the  new  mineral  kingdom  may  be 
updrawn  through  the  old  stony  basis.  He  works  in  the  live 
stone  of  new  foundations.  "  Greater  works,"  said  our  Lord, 
"  than  these  shall  ye  do,"  referring  to  an  objective  superiority 
over  nature,  through  which  the  children  of  His  second  coming 
should  display  His  presence.  What  fluent  floods  of  the  new 
mineral  world  await  the  fire-birth  which  is  to  lead  them  forth, 
it  is  impossible  to  delineate,  till  Christ  comes  in  the  man  of 
stone,  to  demonstrate  the  riches  which  He  has  concealed  for 
the  architectural  adornment  of  His  tabernacle  in  the  latter 
day. 

783.  The  world-soul  forms  fruits  through  her  orchard  trees  ; 
but  through  her  living  tree,  the  man,  she  forms  the  home,  the 
temple,  the  sanctuary  of  art,  and  lastly  the  palace  of  transla- 
tion. Here  these  must  be  spoken  of:  First,  the  home.  In 
cold  electric  jets,  which  with  equal  facility  ascend  through  the 
ooze  of  rivers,  the  alluvial  soil  of  deltas,  the  desert  sands,  the 
rock  foundations,  as  the  Holy  Ghost  moves  through  the  stone 
world,  the  new  marbles  demonstrate  their  presence.  As  the 
cylindrical  white  shafts  arise,  they  are  modified  and  varied 
by  means  of  motions  of  the  Holy  Spirit  distributed  through  the 
moving  hands.  There  is  no  hard  contact  with  the  forming 
mineral;  but  the  motion  determines  the  shape  which  the  struc- 
ture shall  assume.     The  stone  worker  takes  his  place,  inspired 


428  AECANA    OF   CHIilSTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  world-soul  jets  forth  the  electro  mine- 
ral essence ;  not  a  particle  is  lost,  but,  working  as  the  Spirit 
works  in  him,  she  lends  herself  passively  to  supply  the  growing 
substance.  First,  the  smooth  spaces  indicate  that  which  shall 
servo  as  a  boundary  and  basis  of  the  mansion,  and,  standing  in 
the  midst,  the  master-worker  arranges  from  the  movements  of 
the  breath  the  electro  crystalline  atoms,  which  impearled,  or 
striated,  or  rainbow-tinted,  or  azure  as  the  heavens,  fonn  the 
pavement  of  the  edifice.  This,  being  pronounced  accepted  by 
the  Lord,  closes  the  day.  Obedient  to  the  same  process,  first 
the  outer  walls  are  similarly  fashioned,  the  crystallization  be- 
coming solid  and  naturally  visible.  When  the  Lord  speaks, 
porticoes,  doorways,  bases,  shafts,  and  capitals  of  columns,  in 
fine,  whatever  is  essential  to  the  form  of  structure  thus  arises, 
till  the  body  of  the  edifice  is  declared  complete. 

784.  The  workers  in  wood  observe  the  law  spoken  of  in 
No.  91,  when  they  have  attained  to  this  degree;  but  it  must 
here  be  mentioned  that  a  certain  influx  from  the  Heavens, 
which  the  woodman  absorbs  and  communicates  through  the 
motions  spoken  of  before,  independent  of  the  concert  of  the 
natural  tree,  forms  and  produces  the  same  material  in  ex- 
quisite varieties.  The  body  of  the  substance  is  furnished  by 
a  fluent  influx  ascending  from  the  world-soul,  but  its  sjjirit 
through  the  Celestial  Heaven.  The  fluent  wood  is  thus  poured 
forth  by  means  of  the  evolution  of  its  constituents  in  their 
particles,  and,  following  the  motions  of  the  Spirit,  is  arranged 
to  beautify  and  perfect  the  dwelling,  as  is  required  in  the 
primitive  design.  Let  none  doubt  this  who  beheve  that 
manna  fell,  that  the  dead  body  of  Lazarus  was  reconstituted,  or 
that  the  condemned  fig-tree  withered  away.  The  ground  is 
covered  when  it  is  admitted  by  the  Christian  that  substance 
follows  the  fiat  of  the  Lord,  appears  or  disappears,  or  takes 
that  form  of  manifestation  which  His  Holy  Spirit  wills. 

785.  The  metallic  bases  of  the  substance  all  typify  resultant 
harmonies  from  the  Lord,  which  stand  established  in  Heaven 
in  their  nobler  styles ;  but  the  world-soul  holds  the  vehicles  for 
their  transmission  and  embodiment.  In  the  new  mineral-man 
takes  place  the  wedding  of  the  celestial  and  terrene  forces ;  his 
body  is  the  bed-chamber  where  the  married  spirits  coalesce. 


SEC.  784—786.]        TEE   APOCALYPSE.  429 


As  the  breatlis  vary  whidi  tlie  Holy  Spirit  gives^  he  now  inspires 
the  celestial  essence  of  iron  or  of  aluminum ;  again  of  silver 
or  platina ;  again  of  tin^  or  copper,  or  gold ;  he  is  a  worker  in 
the  simple  or  complex  metals  which  represent  in  him  their 
harmony.  As  Christ  the  Lord  evolved  through  Himself,  into 
and  through  His  natural  form,  the  earthly  bases  of  the  bread 
which  supplied  the  three  thousand  and  the  five  thousand,  so 
through  the  new  metallic  man,  in  whom  Christ  lives,  sub- 
stances are  evolved  according  to  his  degree.  Through  the 
body,  in  that  moving  action,  are  formed  bells  of  a  miraculous 
chime,  which  vibrate  according  to  the  harmonies  of  the 
Celestial,  Spiritual  or  Ultimate  Heaven.  The  necessary 
utensils  for  the  preparation  of  food  have  "Holiness  to  the 
Lord'^  inscribed  upon  them,  being  fashioned  through  the 
evolution  of  substance,  and  modelled  in  the  motion  of  the 
breaths.  When  it  is  considered  to  what  a  variety  of  uses  the 
metals  are  applied,  it  is  seen  at  a  glance  to  what  enormous 
work  the  metal-man  is  given. 

786.  Upon  the  finest  porcelain,  embellished  with  exquisite 
pictorial  and  floral  designs,  holy  angels  partake  of  their  joy- 
inspiring  food.  This  porcelain  is  of  the  essence  of  substance ; 
but  the  new  man,  who  respires  in  the  porcelain  atmosphere, 
inhales  and  communicates  that  essence,  which,  through  his 
conjunction  with  the  obedient  world-soul,  is  rounded  from  his 
hand,  and  tinted  with  splendid  harmonies  of  colour  and  out- 
line, daguerreotyped  livingly  within  it  from  the  sunbeam  of 
Deity  which  flashes  in  the  pictures  of  his  intelligence.  Art 
attains  its  divine  coronation  here;  and  the  divine  thought, 
which  tints  the  landscapes  of  the  imaginations,  and  clothes 
itself  in  the  flowers  of  the  field,  is  reproduced  again  in  beau- 
teous newness  for  the  service  of  the  new  man.  But  from  the 
porcelain  table  service  the  transition  is  rapid  to  the  porcelain 
temple,  where  pictures  that  Correggio  never  drew  are  frescoed 
on  such  cathedral  walls  as  William  of  Paris  never  imagined; 
where  the  statue  follows  the  sculptor's  hands,  and  flows  in 
fluent  music  to  stand  a  substance  of  verity,  and  living  light 
gathers  in  the  eyeball,  and  every  line  of  feature  is  carved  to 
the  express  imago  of  the  thought,  and  every  hue  of  vein  or  lip 
or  varied  flesh  denotes  symbolically  the  idea  and  the  love. 


430  ABCANA  OF  CHRISTIANITY.       [chap.  iii. 

Thus  sculpture  becomes,  in  the  Word,  and  in  conjunction  with 
painting  and  the  edifice,  God^s  dramatised  revelation,  man's 
most  exquisite,  sublime  delight. 

787.  Glass  is  the  correspondency  of  skies.  The  arched  roofs 
of  the  houses  of  the  angels  in  the  second  Heaven  are  lit  with 
brilliant  resplendencies  through  crystalline  substance.  When 
the  glass-man  comes,  the  representative  elements  which  com- 
pose its  combinations  are  in  him,  and  go  forth  through  him  to 
be  wrought,  according  to  the  previous  law,  to  simple  or  compo- 
site structures,  from  the  cup  or  the  drinking  goblet,  to  the 
gigantic  conservatory,  within  which  all  the  types  of  the  floral 
world  may  live  and  bloom  together.  So  stand  fixed  the  crystal 
windows  of  home  and  temple ;  so  rise  the  shafts  and  combine 
the  arches  of  the  ultimate  embodiment  of  the  spiritual  sanc- 
tuary. So  stand,  in  great  congregations,  in  high  s  bmnities, 
the  multitudes  of  the  open  breathing  men ;  their  floor  a  sea  of 
glass  mingled  with  fire,  through  which  inflows  the  choral  song 
of  the  great  world-soul  in  crystalline  vibrations. 

788.  It  has  entered  into  the  hearts  of  but  few  to  consider 
the  spiritual  significance  of  the  gem.  Believed  by  all  nations 
from  immemorial  antiquity  to  possess  dynamic  virtues,  it  rarely 
serves  in  our  day  a  higher  purpose  than  that  of  a  trinket,  or  a 
gift  from  friend  to  friend.  A  vain  display  is  ministered  to  by 
the  sumptuous  devices  of  the  jeweller.  Precious  stones  have 
lost  principally  their  virtue ;  few  can  believe  what  solar  fire 
once  emanated  through  the  diamond ;  what  lustre  resided  in 
many  jewels,  from  the  fixed  stars.  The  gem  is  nature's  casket, 
where  she  keeps,  in  little,  her  precious  ornaments.  The  new 
man,  in  whom  the  gem-world  lives,  will  see  the  child's  romance 
a  realized  verity ;  and  good  and  precious  thoughts,  all  scin- 
tillant  with  divine  ideas,  follow  the  fluent  moving  fingers  as 
dropping  from  rubied  lips.  The  cameo  and  the  intaglio  will 
then  appear  in  their  perfection.  The  Divine  Artist  will  thus, 
through  his  human  channels,  symbolise  the  most  precious  of 
virtues  in  the  most  glorious  of  substances.  A  crown  will  thus 
become  literally  the  thing  it  represents,  and  the  diadems  of 
monarchs  in  the  divine  order  a  jewelled  display  of  the  human 
harmonies  in  which  they  rule. 

789.  God  writes  His  thoughts  on  the  fair  petals  of  every 


SEC,  787—790.]         THE   APOCALIPSJEJ.  431 

flower ;  tlie  rose  blushes  and  tlie  lily  wliiteiis  to  serve  as  tlie 
tables  to  a  divine  caligrapby,  but  will  work  to  fairer  things 
for  man.  In  the  Celestial  Heaven  the  angels  write  on  a  great 
variety  of  textures,  in  which  three  things  are  conspicuous ; 
softness  of  tint,  delicacy  of  structure,  and  delicious  odour. 
The  angel  writes  on  substance  with  a  stylus,  which  as  it 
touches  the  page  calls  out  a  tint  to  express  the  affection  of  the 
thought ;  hence  the  colours  blaze  along  the  pages  there,  now 
rising  to  a  meridian  of  lustre,  then  shading  through  sunrises 
to  sunsets,  and  pale  white  glimmerings  of  moon  and  stars. 
So,  in  the  new  creation,  married  to  matter^  will  the  fair  pages 
of  the  Heavens  unfold  for  open-breathing  men.  The  touch  of 
such  pure  substance  will  awaken  in  the  heart  yearnings  to  be 
clothed  upon  with  equal  purities.  All  books  will  be  in  due 
time  impressed  on  this.  Substances  for  caligraphic  use  vary 
in  the  Heavens  according  to  the  specialty  for  which  they  are 
designed.  That  which  is  to  serve  as  the  medium  for  the 
Word  is  most  holy ;  so  will  it  be  below.  The  white  thought 
light,  the  golden  love  light,  and  the  red  joy  light  of  three 
Heavens  will  so  interweave  their  married  beams,  while  the 
world-soul  supplies  a  threefold  element  for  their  absorption 
and  incorporation,  that,  following  the  motions  of  the  inspiring 
breath,  the  Word- sub  stance  shall  delight  our  natural  vision, 
and  in  it  the  Word ;  but  this  belongs  to  a  new  series. 

790.  '^Write,^^  signifies,  seven  new  modes  by  which  the 
truths  of  the  Divine  Word  will  be  communicated.  First,  the 
substance  previously  spoken  of,  as  formed  to  receive  the  text 
of  the  Word  on  its  surface,  imprinted  by  a  mode  similar  to  the 
printing  press,  with  this  addition,  that  a  symbolical  letter  will 
be  introduced,  and  the  Word  printed  in  all  languages,  accom- 
panied with  its  parallel  in  the  new  harmonic  tongue,  which  will 
eventually  be  the  sole  language  of  the  nations,  but  which  can- 
not be  spoken  now,  as  man  is  unable  to  enunciate  celestial 
sounds.  The  Word  will  appear,  in  the  second  place,  inter- 
leaved with  magnificent  illustrations,  pictured  upon  the  page 
originally,  through  the  process  mentioned  before.  Each  church 
will  have  the  Word  embodied  in  illustrative  designs  peculiar 
to  its  own  genius,  in  which  human  life,  in  the  three  Heavens 
and  the  harmonic  earths  of  the  unfallen  universe,  will  be  pour- 


432  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  itt. 

traycd  witli  absolute  fidelity.  Thirds  the  copies  of  the  Holy 
"Word  made  use  of  in  the  temples.  This  most  Holy  Word  will 
be  inscribed  on  a  substance  resembling  the  blue  heaven ;  the 
truths  being  written  entirely  in  the  representative  language 
used  by  angels^  and  in  the  resplendencies  of  colour  by  which  the 
affections  of  truths  are  indicated.  The  unfoldings,  which  are 
from  the  Word^  will  appear  with  the  text,  comprising  the  most 
majestic  element  in  literature ;  but  these  will  be  written  upon 
a  substance  of  such  quality  that  none  but  those  to  whom  the 
truths  appertain  can  peruse  the  pages. 

791.  Fourth,  the  Woman^s  Word  for  woman  alone,  as  it  is 
embodied  through  illustrative  men  of  the  priestly  type.  No  copy 
of  this  Word  will  ever  be  permitted  to  be  opened  by  man,  ex- 
cept the  illustrators  of  it  alone,  and  those  only  in  their  office, 
and  when,  by  induction,  respiring  in  the  universal  series.  Fifth, 
it  is  inscribed  in  aerial  folds,  tissues  of  fine  light,  instantane- 
ously embodied  to  that  degree  of  sight  called,  elsewhere,  '^ nerve 
vision.^^  The  Word  wiU  be  written  in  a  sixth  manner,  as  fol- 
lows. The  new  human  ty^Q  of  air  dwellers  will  receive  it  in- 
scribed in  minute  hieroglyphics  in  the  lensic  organ,  which  ap- 
pears in  the  palm  of  the  hand.  It  will  also  be  seen,  from  time 
to  time,  in  symbolical  inscriptions  of  a  hieroglyphical  character 
in  the  forehead.  The  seventh,  and  final  manner,  will  be 
through  symbolical  and  representative  human  forms,  mar- 
shalled in  the  sky  spaces.  Sometimes,  from  the  rising  to  the 
going  down  of  the  sun,  the  whole  firmament  will  resemble  a 
grand  historical  picture,  setting  forth  the  new  creation ;  while 
at  other  times  things  past  will  appear  in  glorious  effigies, 
where  men  now  behold  the  tinted  sunset  clouds  ;  and  the  sub- 
lime destinies  of  the  future  will  also,  in  living  tableaux,  come 
forth  in  the  triumphal  pathway  of  the  rising  sun. 

792.  "These  things  saith  the  Amen."  By  ^''amen,^'  in 
this  verse,  is  signified,  the  One  who  confirms  or  establishes. 
"  These  things,"  refers  to  a  new  creation  to  appear  in  Poly- 
nesia, concerning  which  the  Lord  permits  the  words  which 
foUow  to  be  said.  All  terrestrial  localities  are  preserved  for 
special  ends.  Every  rocky  island,  however  minute  in  dimen- 
sions, will  be  glorified  in  the  triumph  of  the  new  barmony, 
through  open  respiring  men  and  women.     That  Asiatic  type 


SEC.  791—793.]  TEE  APOCALYPSE.  433 

of  wliicTi  tlie  Soutli-sea  Islanders  are  inheritors,  freed  from 
tlieii'  inversions,  will  re-appear ;  tall,  beautifully  proportioned, 
golden  coloured  men,  in  stature  approximating  to  tlie  average 
height  of  Europeans ;  and  women,  whose  goldenness  is  of  a 
paler  light,  whose  eyes  of  the  most  liquid  azure,  and  with  hair 
curling  in  floating  spirals.  These  will  be  among  the  new-born 
of  the  Church  in  Smyrna. 

793.  The  open  breathing  men  who  thus  appear  will  find 
the  islands  of  the  South  Seas  demoniacal  houses  of  the  dii'est 
sort,  and  swarming  with  ferocious  cannibal  spirits,  clothed 
with  magnetic  flesh,  and  insidiously  attacking  the  constitu- 
tions of  all  who  approach  the  soil.  The  cannibal,  by  his  in- 
version, develops,  more  than  the  civilizee,  a  capacity  in  the 
nerve-essence  for  clinging  to  the  spirit  when  it  leaves  the  flesh, 
causing  it  to  serve  as  a  phantom  body.  Those  islands  wherein 
cannibalism  has  been  practised  for  ages  as  a  religious  rite, 
resemble  to  the  spiritual  eye  Golgothas  of  slaughter,  where 
demons  re-enact  in  fantasy  the  terrible  orgies  which  delighted 
them  during  the  natural  life.  They  take  an  insane  pleasure 
in  surrounding  wandering  spirits  of  the  European  family, 
and  in  fantasy  butcher  and  eat  them,  ravenously  appropri- 
ating to  themselves  the  nerve  essence,  which  to  their  eye  re- 
sembles black  gore.  I  saw  a  distinguished  naval  officer,  an 
American,  made  famous  by  his  cruelties  to  many  of  the  natives 
of  Polynesia,  stripped  by  them  of  his  nerve  spirit,  which  after- 
ward he  was  compelled  to  re-appropriate  after  it  had  passed 
through  loathsome  changes  in  their  bodies.  He  is  periodically 
killed  and  eaten  in  this  way,  as  to  his  phantom  form,  and  his 
crimes  are  such  that  a  magnetic  rapj^ort  has  been  formed  that 
he  cannot  break,  which  enslaves  him  in  their  midst.  I  saw 
the  spii'it  of  another,  an  Englishman,  also  a  naval  officer 
of  distinction,  and  who  serves  them  in  the  same  capacity. 
These  demons  appear  in  the  distance  as  ogres ;  they  are  at  the 
present  time  in  a  state  of  great  commotion ;  the  demons  from 
an  ancient  Hell,  eaters  of  human  flesh,  while  in  the  body, 
having  risen  in  the  midst  of  them,  .armed  with  strange  instru- 
ments, and  practising  Baal  worship.  There  are  many  slavers 
hero  clothed  with  magnetic  bodies,  whom  the  ancient  Canaan- 
ites  that  have  risen  affiliate  with.     The  trader  in  men  com- 

E  E 


431  ABCANA    OF   CHRIS TIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

monly  becomes  for  a  time  a  wandering  demon,  and  is  enslaved, 
and  liis  magnetic  body  is  often  murdered  and  devom^ed  by  other 
wandering  demons  of  the  special  race  whose  offspring  he  has 
bought  and  sold. 

794.  Polynesia  is  also  visited  by  a  most  ancient  white  race 
who  once  inhabited  Greece  and  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean, 
but  far  anterior  to  Hellenic  times,  most  ferocious  and  also 
devourers  of  men ;  they  affect  great  suavity,  being  in  con- 
junction with  the  most  ancient  lost  spirits  of  the  silver  age. 
They  have  arisen  also  since  modern  spiritual  manifestations 
began.  Wherever  the  ferocious  rites  of  cannibalism  have 
been  performed,  and  the  blood  of  men  gone  down  into  the 
ground,  a  wound  is  inflicted  in  the  nerve  spirit  of  the  earth, 
which  at  this  place  exhibits  traces  of  it  for  many  ages.  George 
Fox,  much  in  rapport  with  the  world-soul,  though  unconscious 
of  it,  performed  at  times  automatic  actions  through  a  dumb 
sympathy  within  himself;  once  in  particular,  walking  with 
bare  feet  through  the  town  of  Taunton,  England,  crying, 
'"^Woe  to  the  bloody  city  V  Christians  had  been  martyred 
there  in  old  days  of  Pagan  persecution,  and  the  blood,  crying 
from  the  ground,  through  the  wound  in  the  nerve  spirit  of  the 
earth,  was  the  prompting  cause  of  the  deed.  Eed  flames  are 
seen  streaming  from  the  bosom,  of  the  soil  where  martyrs  have 
oflered  up  their  lives,  when  the  sight  is  Opened.  Green  flames 
mark  spots  designated  by  parricides.  A  bloody  hand  of  fire 
is  sometimes  seen  where  the  good  have  perished.  But  the 
scenes  of  cannibal  festivities  in  Pagan  nations  are  marked  by 
a  livid,  death-white  glare,  exceedingly  foul  to  look  upon.  To 
purge  a  land  requires  the  healing  of  the  wound  in  the  nerve 
spirit  of  the  earth.  This  is  treated  of  in  the  significances  of 
the  clause  which  follows. 

795.  By  ''  faithful  and  true  witness,"  is  denoted,  the 
universal  soul  which  our  Lord  assumed  that  He  might  descend 
into  nature.  [See  A.  of  0.  2,  1,  chap.  I.]  The  wounds  in  the 
nerve  spirit  of  the  earth  can  hardly  be  counted,  since,  wherever 
human  blood  has  been  shed,  or  men  have  slaughtered  their 
fellows,  from  the  creation,  a  death-mark  is  visible  in  its  sub- 
stance. The  nerve  spirit  lies  within  the  crust  of  the  earth  as 
the   human  nerve  essence  is  distributed  through  the  body. 


SEC.  794—797]  THE  APOOALYFSK  435 

The  frequent  cause  of  tlie  insanity  of  animals,  and  their 
epileptic  disorders,  is  the  ascent,  into  the  pastures  in  which 
they  feed,  of  some  air-stream  of  electric  breath  which  vents 
through  the  wound ;  this  deranges,  by  sympathy,  the  animal 
economy.  Children  who  are  born  near  these  places  frequently 
are  idiotic  or  malformed.  The  human  mind  is  also,  when  in 
proximity  with  them,  more  liable  during  sleep  to  obsessions 
from  evil  spirits.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  any  angel,  when 
once  the  nervous  essence  of  the  earth  has  thus  been  pierced, 
to  restore  organic  harmony.  The  lambent  and  vivid  appear- 
ances which  ascend  through  these  wounds,  are  called  sometimes 
"  the  blood,^^  and  sometimes ''  the  fire  of  testimony ;"  they  are 
a  perpetual  testimonial  of  the  madnesses  produced  by  sin. 
Our  Lord  is  called,  in  the  universal  spirit  which  He  assumed, 
that  He  might  descend  into  nature,  "The  faithful  and  true 
witness,'^  because  He  testifies  in  the  earth  to  its  deliverance, 
entering  by  means  of  the  assumed  nerve  essence  into  the 
nerve  essence  of  the  orb,  and  preparing  means  for  its  establish- 
ment in  a  new  harmony  wherein  all  of  the  disturbances  shall 
pass  away. 

796.  "  The  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God,''  signifies,  in 
this  verse,  the  new  harmony,  created  by  the  assumption  of  the 
human  by  our  Lord,  and  His  glorification ;  and  it  also  signifies, 
our  Lord  in  that  new  harmony  wherein  worlds  and  systems, 
yet  unborn,  revolve  in  their  majestic  circles,  and  world-souls 
and  universe-souls  await  their  inauguration  in  time  and  space, 
and  transcendent  types  of  man  await  the  ages  of  their  terrestrial 
evolution. 

Chap.  hi.  15. — "I  know  thy  woeks,  that  thou  art  neither 

COLD   NOR    hot  :     I   WOULD    THOU   WERT    COLD    OR   HOT.'' 

797.  In  the  significations  of  this  verse  are  involved  the 
following  principles  :  First,  that  man  cannot,  in  his  natural- 
rational  mind,  either  divine  or  advance  by  reasonings  into  the 
first  grounds  of  any  knowledge.  Second,  that  those  in  whom 
the  natural  rational  genius  prevails,  are  disposed  to  adopt  the 
theory  that  poets,  prophets,  and  inspired  sages,  whether 
Christian  or  Heathen,  Jews  or  Gentiles,  are  natural-rational 
men  Hke  themselves,  who  attribute  falsely  those  things  to  a 

E  E  2 


436  ARCANA    OF  CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  in. 


divine  afflatus  which  are  the  result  of  a  subjective  sensual 
perception.  Entertaining-  in  their  hearts  these  views,  however 
concealed,  they  logically  misinterpret  Christianity  as  a  theo- 
logical system,  and  deduce  from  it  the  theory  that  optimism  is 
the  best  belief,  and  that  a  wise  acquiescence  in  the  present  social 
and  religious  systems,  coupled  with  a  vast  latitude  in  private 
thought,  is  on  the  whole  the  most  conducive  to  health,  pros- 
perity, and  harmony. 

798.  Third,  the  principle  is  involved,  that  the  natural  ra- 
tional man  is  the  best  qualified  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  luxu- 
ries of  the  present  civilization ;  regarding  men  as  in  the  main 
well-meaning  creatures,  tolerably  certain  of  a  prosperous  fu- 
ture life,  who  must  not,  however,  be  sympathised  with  too 
intensely,  as  this  will  mar  the  happiness  of  which,  through  the 
reason  and  the  senses,  loian  is  capable.  This  state  begets  at 
once  an  easy  indifference  as  to  the  presence  and  insidious 
operations  of  sin,  and  a  vague  and  undetermined  belief  that  it 
melts  like  a  moonlight  mist  when  its  end  is  accomplished,  and 
ceases  to  disturb  the  serene  tranquility  of  creation.  The  un- 
obtrusive voluptuary,  the  self-indulgent,  self- complaisant  man 
of  letters,  prosperous  in  every  land  in  which  the  sectarian 
chains  are  loosened,  hold  in  a  quiet  manner  to  this  view,  which, 
in  their  estimation,  intensifies  the  sweet,  and  qualifies  the 
bitter  in  the  cup  of  life.  To  believe  good-naturedly  in  the 
good,  in  a  half  sense,  and  yet  so  to  conduct  affairs  as  to  derive 
assistance  from,  and  to  secure  advantages  through  the  evil,  is 
the  test  of  this  character  in  its  perfection.  It  applies  to  vast 
classes  of  men,  as  they  drift  downward  bodily  to  perdition,  the 
flattering  unction,  that  the  state  of  ideal  virtue,  for  which  others 
strive,  is  unattainable,  and  that  its  pursuit  argues  a  morbid 
or  frenzied  moral  state.  It  soothes  the  qualms  of  conscience,  by 
arguing  that  average  character,  neither  so  pure  as  to  incense  the 
depraved,  nor  so  obviously  debased  as  to  shock  the  sesthetic 
religious  sense,  is  conducive  to  the  amplest  usefulness,  no  less 
than  to  prosperity  and  honour.  It  is  condemned  in  these  words, 
''  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  are  neither  cold  nor  hot.''^ 

799.  "  Cold,"  signifies,  an  obvious,  declarative  denial  of  the 
good  in  good,  the  truth  in  truth,  the  virtue  in  virtue.  "  Hot," 
signifies,  a  bold  and  steadfast  maintenance  of  the  two  great 


SEC.  798—800.]  TSE  AFOCALTPSE.  437 

connected  principles,  absolute  obedience  to  the  Divine  Spirit, 
absolute  self-surrendery  for  Divine  ends  in  life.  "  I  would 
thou  wert  cold  or  hot/^  signifies,  the  desire  of  the  Lord  that 
all  those  committed  to  this  natural  rationalism,  who  are,  as  to 
their  inmosts,  devoting  themselves  greedily  to  diabolism, 
should  drop  the  mask  of  appearances,  and  cease  to  beguile 
mankind  by  a  sophistry  which  clothes  itself  for  evil  ends  with 
the  noblest  phrases  in  literature  and  the  loftiest  sentiments  in 
religion.  Obversely,  it  signifies,  the  Divine  desire  that  such 
as  cherish  inmostly  yearnings  for  the  regenerate  life,  should 
cease  the  self-derived  effort  of  endeavouring  to  reconcile  in 
one  philosophy  the  truth  of  Christ,  and  the  heresy  -of  Anti- 
christ, and  to  secure  in  political  action  the  suffrages  of  the 
virtuous  and  the  vicious.  "Neither  cold  nor  hot,"  is  descrip- 
tive of  the  mass  of  professed  religionists,  and  pictures  the 
bodily  estate  of  Christendom. 

Chap.  hi.  16. — "  So  then,  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and 

NEITHER    COLD      NOR    HOT,    I    WILL    SPUE     TfiEE     OUT    OF    MY 
MOUTH." 

800.  Opposite  to  the  natural -rational,  as  at  present  mani- 
fested in  man,  is  the  celestial-natural,  which  our  Lord  set  forth 
in  His  Humanity.  It  developes  a  cheerful  wisdom,  and  a 
fruitful  contentedness  with  the  day,  whether  in  the  palace  or 
the  prison ;  an  equal  fearlessness  for  the  morrow,  whether  it  is 
to  dawn  upon  the  scaffold  or  the  coronation.  It  is  j)ut  in 
opposition  to  the  natural-rational,  as  men  now  possess  it,  be- 
cause it  brings  forth  in  reality  the  good  fruit  which  the  man 
of  carnal  heart  thinks  to  possess  through  the  other.  Of  all 
states  it  is  the  most  estimable,  for  the  reason  that  it  holds  the 
sound  mind  of  a  good  Heaven  in  the  sound  body  of  a  good 
earth ;  the  health  of  two  spheres  made  perfect  .in  union.  The 
pietist  looks  away  from  the  earth ;  the  corporealist  confines 
his  view  to  the  earth ;  the  man  who  possesses  the  celestial- 
rational  quality  perceives  the  possibility  of  embodying  Heaven 
in  Earth,  and  so  of  filling  Earth  with  Heaven.  The  states  of 
those  who  are  weakly  and  sinfully  natural-rational,  are  de- 
scribed in  the  words,  "  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot." 
Their  coming  desolations  are  set  forth  in  the  phrase,  "  I  will 


438  ABCANA    OF   CHEISTIANITT.  [chap.  hi. 

spuo  thee  out  of  my  moutli."     Here  follow  statements  con- 
cerning these  desolations^  under  the  head  of  seven  judgments. 

801.  The  Church  of  Rome,  in  which  are  to.be  found  bodies 
of  nohlcsse,  and  myriads  of  peasantry,  practically  committed  to 
a  natural-rational  theory  in  the  conduct  of  life,  will  be  visited 
with  seven  plagues.  A  sensation  of  red-hot  pincers,  tearing 
at  the  vitals,  will  be  first.  This  is  an  organic  sensation  in 
the  natural  body,  resvdting  from  the  cleavage  which  begins 
between  the  artificial  mind,  trained  in  social  subterfuges,  and 
the  concealed  inner  mind.  The  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
makes  the  inmost  mind  determined  that  it  will  enact  itself  in 
matter,  and  throw  out  its  fiery  passions  to  the  surface.  It 
therefore,  in  violent  throes,  endeavours  to  wrest  itself  from 
the  suffocating  embrace  of  its  natural  adjunct,  which  at  once 
masks  its  features  and  prevents  the  evolution  of  that  within 
them.  The  man  who  at  heart  is  becoming  a  devil,  will  ex- 
perience burning  desires  to  unmask  his  devilhood,  and  declare 
himself  the  fiend  which  he  seeks  to  be.  This  desire  will 
mount  to  the  minds  of  both  ecclesiastics  and  laity,  prompting 
them  to  declare  secret  opinions  now  masked  under  a  professed 
conformity. 

802.  The  second  judgment  will  be  a  disposition  to  spue 
from  the  mouth  the  emblems  of  the  Holy  Sacrament.  Priests 
will  find  themselves  involuntarily  cursing  at  the  elevation  of 
the  Host,  and  a  madness  will  seize  the  organs  of  the  body, 
corresponding  to  an  internal  horror  which  affects  the  mind. 
God  will  not  have  His  passion  profaned  in  any  sect  much  longer. 

803.  Inability  to  maintain  the  vows  of  celibacy  will  be  the 
third  judgment,  visited  especially  upon  ecclesiastics.  If  good 
internally,  desire  for  orderly  marriage  will  violently  wrestle 
with,  and  cast  down  its  opposite  in  the  mind.  If  evil,  libidi- 
nous desires  will  despotically  rule  the  frame.  This  is  effected 
by  means  of  the  approximation  of  the  celestial  influx  in  the 
one  case,  which  is  conjugial,  or  the  infernal  influx  in  the 
other  case,  which  is  adulterous.  A  great  movement  for  the 
abolition  of  enforced  celibacy  will  result,  and  a  fierce  counter 
movement,  involving  collisions. 

804.  It  was  said  by  our  Lord,  during  His  incarnation,  that  if 
His  disciples  held  their  peace,  the  very  stones  would  cry  out ; 


SEC.  801—807.]         THE   AP0GALTP8K  439 

nor  did  tliis  involve  merely  a  figure.  The  flamy  spirits  of 
mineral  and  metal^  whicli  stand  embodied  in  'vast  catliedral 
temples,  or  embodied  in  shrines,  altars,  reliquaries,  and  the 
vessels  of  the  Host,  absorbing  into  themselves  that  breath 
through  the  world-soul  by  which  God  spues  forth  the  falsities 
of  ceremonial  profession,  will  seize  the  shrinking  mammon- 
server  and  self- worshipper  who  profanes  the  holy  place.  Held 
in  bondage  by  dynamic  arms  of  power,  which  work  out  invisibly 
through  mineral  and  metal,  he  will  find  relief  only,  as  ab- 
sorbing their  spirit,  he  lays  bare  the  hidden  heart-things,  and 
gives  voice  to  what  is  pent  within  himself.  The  frightful 
scenes  occurring  in  temples  will  exceed  belief. 

805.  A  fifth  judgment  will  consist  in  the  toppling  down  and 
overthrowing  of  crosses  and  the  images  of  angels  and  saints, 
in  places  profaned  by  the  monkish  idolatry ;  the  good  stone 
will  refuse  any  longer  to  yield  itself  to  impostm-es.  The  spirits 
of  the  stone,  taking  possession  of  the  ultimate  particles,  and 
swept  in  their  motion  by  the  Divine  breath,  will  break  the 
magnificence  of  ages,  that  they  whose  belief  is  a  ruin  may  con- 
gregate in  ruins.  Before  the  invisible  ark  of  God's  holy  city. 
New  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down  from  Heaven,  the  efiigies 
in  every  house  of  seeming  faith  must  be  destroyed.  The 
Voice  saith,  ^^Woe,  woe,  woe,  when  the  whirlwind  rises  and 
the  new  harmony  sweeps  forth  to  winnow  the  threshing-floor 
of  nations  \" 

806.  A  sixth  judgment  will  be  a  plague  of  dumbness  and 
paralysis.  The  ecclesiastic  will  go  forth  to  celebrate  the  mass, 
but  the  lips  will  refuse  to  pronounce  the  words  he  fain  would 
utter,  the  hands  refuse  to  extend  themselves  to  give  the  bless- 
ing and  the  absolution.  Seventh,  ecclesiastics  who  deny  that 
this  visitation  is  of  the  Lord,  and  blaspheme  the  Holy  Spirit, 
will  bo  afflicted  with  the  fire-evil.  Such  evil  passions  as  tliey 
have  nourished  in  the  mind  will  be  allowed  to  represent  them- 
selves in  the  body,  and  the  physical  system  will  be  infested 
with  a  sensation  as  of  ants,  adders,  and  scorpions  of  flame. 

807.  The  judgment  of  the  Greek  Church  will  be  different. 
Having  never  fallen  into  the  last  excesses  of  Rome,  it  remains 
in  a  better  state  spiritually,  its  sins  being  more  of  a  gross  cor- 
poreal, than  of  a  Jesuitical  character.     Nevertheless,  it  must 


440  ABCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

be  made  feelingly  to  experience  that  its  internal  state  is  unac- 
ceptable to  God.  These  judgments  will  be^  first,  the  cold  fear. 
The  sun  will  be  unable  to  warm  the  bodies  of  those  affected  by- 
it,  and  the  extreme  chills  of  the  ague  will  bid  defiance  to 
stimulants,  disappearing,  however,  as  mysteriously  as  they 
come  on.  This  will  affect  prelates,  priests,  and  laity.  The 
body  is  made  to  feel  the  cold  deadness  extant  within  its  reli- 
gious profession. 

808.  Because  the  Lord  is  the  Divine  Sun,  the  source  of  heat, 
which  is  love,  to  the  universal  heart  of  creation,  and  because 
no  man  thinks  of  loving  the  Lord  as  the  Supreme  and  Only 
Good,  the  impartial  benefactor,  who  receives  the  Greek  con- 
fession, the  sun,  the  natural  symbol  of  the  shining  presence  of 
Messiah,  will  absorb  heat  from,  instead  of  communicating  to, 
their  bodies.  Tliey  will  complain  that  the  sun  has  grown  cold, 
and  that  its  rays  stiffen  them  as  if  they  were  congealing  to  an 
icy  marble.  This  is  because  their  faith  in  its  spirit  repudiates 
the  unition  of  the  Divine  Good  and  Truth,  and  separates,  prac- 
tically, the  professions  of  Christianity  from  a  patient,  godly, 
self-denying  life.  The  world-soul  rises  by  her  sphere,  and 
pours  a  cold  into  them,  in  the  movement  of  which  the  solar 
rays  are  withdrawn  and  cease  to  vivify ;  this  being  a  result  of 
the  conspiration  between  the  solar  world-soul  and  that  of  our 
own  orb. 

809.  The  dancing  madness  will  be  let  forth.  The  gyrating 
vortices  which  emanate  through  the  Hells  are  opposed  to  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  when  that  recedes  and  withdraws  its  protec- 
tion, men  dance  by  a  frenzy.  At  such  times  they  are  encom- 
passed by  whirhng  bodies  of  fantastic  wandering  demons,  in- 
vested with  the  nerve  essence,  who  seize  the  movement  as  it 
rises  through  the  Hells,  and  are  seized  by  it  in  turn.  It  will 
take  hold  upon  young  and  old,  male  and  female,  clergymen  and 
laity,  with  periodical  accessions  and  diminutions,  till  they  know 
the  Lord,  or  are  divorced  from  the  seemings  of  a  dead  eccle- 
siastical condition. 

810.  A  fourth  judgment  to  visit  the  Greek  Church  will  be  a 
partial  inability  of  the  digestive  system  either  to  retain  or  as- 
similate food.  The  orifices  at  the  mouth  of  the  stomach  will 
remain  closed  till  fierce  huno^er  visits  the  frame.     This  also  is 


SEC.  808—813.]  TRE  APOCALTFSF.  441 


tlie  reflex  of  a  spiritual  state  in  tlie  natural  constitution ;  the 
spiritual  stomacli  refusing  to  feed  upon  the  doctrine  of  love, 
and  to  nourish  the  celestial  principle  thereby,  its  natural  coun- 
terpart so  closes  itself  against  the  ultimate  organ  by  means  of 
which  the  body  is  maintained.  This  will  visit  men  with  greater 
or  less  intensity  according  to  the  degree  in  which  they  have 
internally  refused  to  feed  upon  the  bread  of  life. 

811.  A  fifth  judgment  will  be  nerve  madness.  An  ague  in 
the  brain  will  first  develop  itself,  confined  alone  to  that  jaortion 
of  the  body.  Then  the  spine,  with  the  great  ganglions  will 
grow  cold,  and  every  minute  extension  of  the  nervous  system 
tingle  as  at  the  first  touches  of  the  frost.  The  ice  of  death 
will  seem  forming  about  the  heart  as  a  palpable  covering.  The 
reaction  will  be  nervous  contortions,  in  which,  seeming  to  be 
possessed  of  independent  lives,  the  hands  will  violently  beat 
the  body,  and  various  members  of  the  system  strive  to  torture 
each  other.  Because  the  Greek  Church  is  composed,  as  to  its 
spirit,  of  individuals  in  unfaith  and  antagonism  toward  each 
other,  so  that  member  is  arrayed  against  member,  in  perjury, 
chicanery,  robbery,  extortion,  and  oppression,  its  general  state 
will  be  transmitted  and  re-enacted  thus  in  the  nervous  systems 
of  its  people, 

812.  Sixth;  another  judgment  will  be  the  madness  of  the 
visual  organs.  Because  the  Greek  Church  in  question  refuses 
to  see  truth,  when  the  truth  is  in  the  opening  of  respiration 
and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  falsehoods  which 
reside  within  the  spiritual  eyes,  will  coiTespondentially  be 
present  in  the  natural  eyes.  Gold  will  seem  dross,  and  dross 
gold ;  substance  vacuity,  and  vacuity  substance ;  the  dark 
luminous,  and  the  bright  opaque;  dust  as  precious  stones, 
and  gems  as  impure  matter ;  doves  as  serpents,  and  serpents 
as  doves.  This  will  continue  with  alternations,  varieties, 
gradual  increases,  and  occasional  cessations.  It  is  a  natm-al 
disclosure  of  hidden  spiritual  states. 

813.  A  seventh  judgment  will  consist  in  cravings  for  un- 
natural food,  and  shudderings  at  that  which  is  healthful  and 
of  Divine  provision.  Honey  will  ofi'end  the  taste,  but  a  fetid 
drug  be  coveted.  The  bodies  of  hawks,  owls,  foxes,  and 
wolves,  and  especially  the   putrid  flesh  of  human  corpses,  to 


442  ABCANA    OF   CHBISTIANITY.         [chap.  hi. 

tlie  insane  appetite  "will  seem  delicacies,  and  summer  fruits 
occasion  slmdderings,  loathings,  and  repulsions.  This  is 
because  in  spirit  they  prey  upon  each,  other,  and  greedily  con- 
sume the  details  of  obscene  acts.  Having  nourished  in  the 
spirit  the  appetite  for  garbage,  it  comes  forth,  till  the  body 
takes  upon  itself  the  passions,  and  hankers  after  strange  flesh. 

814.  The  Abyssinian  Church,  and  the  general  remains  of  the 
the  first  Christian  age  in  Africa,  will  be  judged  as  follows. 
Having  sunken  to  nearly  the  last  extreme  of  ignorance  and 
degradation,  while  still  it  persists  in  esteeming  itself  worthy 
to  be  called  ''  the  Bride  the  Lamb's  wife ;"  and  having  lost 
the  truths  of  the  Word  in  the  confusion  of  its  miserable  con- 
ditions, seven  calamities  will  be  apparent  among  its  members, 
which,  however,  are  love-chastenings  of  the  Almighty  hand. 
Impeded  respiration  will  be  first,  accompanied  with  a  sensa- 
tion as  if  suffocation  were  at  hand.  This  will  be  because  they 
have  suffocated  or  strangled  the  truths  of  life ;  substituting 
for  them  inane  compliance  with  the  ritual.  The  second, 
reserved  for  the  priests,  will  be  inability  to  articulate  in  their 
wi'etched  ceremonials,  especially  when  they  seek  to  pronounce 
our  Lord's  name.  This  is  because  to  pronounce  that  name, 
internally,  requires  the  Holy  Spirit,  breathing  in  the  celestial 
degree  of  the  lungs  ;  but  their  lungs,  in  the  higher  degree,  are 
only  open  to  such  am-as  as  flow  thi'ough  subterranean  passages 
in  the  Earth  of  Spirits.  A  third  judgment  will  visit  such  of 
them  as  buy  and  sell  human  beings ;  they  will  see  themselves 
sinking  to  squalid  bondage,  degraded  to  the  most  unhappy  of 
employments,  and  cruelly  tyrannised  over  by  demons  who  arise 
to  avenge  their  kindred.  These  visions,  in  a  sort  of  waking 
panorama,  will  follow  them  by  day,  and  they  will  hardly  be 
able  to  discriminate  between  the  phantasmagoria  by  which  they 
are  thus  surrounded,  and  the  objects  of  sense.  This  will  be 
accompanied,  in  extreme  cases,  by  an  excruciating  agony,  as  if 
they  were  being  torn  from  companions  and  children,  stripped 
of  possessions,  driven  over  fierce  deserts,  and  maltreated  with 
blows. 

"  'Tis  even-handed  justice 
Eeturas  the  ingredients  of  our  poisoned  clialice 
To  our  own  lips." 

815.  Inasmuch  as  in  this  cburch  sexual  disorders  (prevail. 


SEC.  814—817.]  TRE   APOOALTFSK  443 

and  clergy  and  laity  are  sunken  in  tliem^  the  nerve  essence 
will  be  visited  by  intolerable  burnings,  sometimes  flasbing  to 
tbe  face,  till  it  becomes  as  if  it  were  a  ball  of  molten  copper, 
and  swelling  in  contortions  about  tbe  loins  as  if  serpents  of 
huge  bulk  bad  tbere  made  their  den,  while  the  feet  become  of 
a  dead  coldness  as  if  in  the  last  stage  before  decay.  It  is 
with  extreme  clemency  that  this  judgment  is  meted  out,  for 
the  evils  which  it  especially  indicates  are  the  cause  of  the 
generation  of  fiery  worms  in  the  spiritual  body  which  thus 
torture  it;  and  the  visage  becomes  at  the  same  time  inflamed 
to  a  fierce  bm-ning,  while  the  feet  emit  a  cold  putresence.  The 
judgment  is  caused  by  the  transfer  of  existent  spiritual  con- 
ditions, by  correspondence,  from  the  will  and  spiritual  body 
to  the  nerve  essence  which  connects  it  with  the  corporeal 
natural  form. 

816.  Inasmuch  as  the  oath  is  not  regarded  in  this  church, 
and  prevarications  are  almost  universal  habits,  the  fifth  judg- 
ment will  be  that  of  the  fiery  and  swollen  tongue.  It  will 
commence  with  a  slight  itching  in  the  centre,  and  continue 
till  the  man  calls  out  for  mercy  in  his  anguish ;  while  often  a 
distension  of  the  organ  will  take  place,  so  that  it  protrudes 
from  the  mouth ;  the  sight  of  cold  water  will  occasion  an 
aggravation  of  the  pain.  In  the  HeUs  the  sins  committed  by 
means  of  the  tongue  are  forced  to  appear  in  certain  states  as  a 
disease  and  madness  of  the  organ,  and  water  inflames  and 
aggravates ;  because  being  the  symbol  of  truth,  its  presence 
provokes  to  anger  and  anguish  the  spirit  of  falsehood  in  the 
will.  Prevarications  are  thus  punished  in  the  second  life, 
where  all  liars  have  their  portion  in  the  fiery  lake,  and  go  down 
finally  to  the  second  death.  Tyranny  over  wives  being  prac- 
tised also  in  this  church,  the  sixth  judgment  will  visit  male 
ofienders  who  are  thus  guilty.  As  conjugial  oppression  is  the 
result  of  cold  from  the  infernals  in  the  mind,  its  results  will  be 
impotency,  loss  of  memory,  and  sensations  as  if  adders  were 
drawing  blood  from  the  breasts.  The  man  thus  guilty  will 
find  no  relief,  except  by  repentance  and  the  substitution  of 
unforced  kindness  for  cruelty. 

817.  The  seventh  judgment  will  bo  that  of  the  Don.  Every 
man  who  commits  evil  has  in  himself  infernal  passions,  in  the 


444  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIAN  ITT.         [chap.  m. 


shapes  which  appear  on  earth  as  ferocious  beasts  and  reptiles. 
These  arc  of  the  mikler  sort^  the  more  infernal  having  no 
terrestrial  analogies.  The  man  who  is  cast  into  this  judgment 
finds  himself,  sleeping  or  waking,  followed  by  a  monster  whose 
image  changes  according  to  the  evil  love  that  is  uppermost. 
It  is  accompanied  by  the  haunting  consciousness  that  some- 
where behind  him  is  a  den  where  many  such  have  their  hiding 
place.  Sometimes  he  is  appalled  with  the  sensation  as  if  he 
were  being  hunted  by  a  pack  of  wolves ;  and  then  the  rank 
odour  which  announces  the  tiger^  wafted  to  the  nostrils,  causes 
him  to  tremble  with  alarm  lest  some  crouching  monster  should 
spring  forth  suddenly  and  bear  him  away. 

818.  A  final  judgment  is  that  of  the  larvEe.  The  eyes  are 
partially  opened,  and  demons  now  become  visible  who  retain 
their  magnetic  bodies,  and  who  prey  with  equal  indifference 
upon  the  exhalations  of  the  living  and  the  dead.  They  are 
compelled  to  appear  as  they  were,  each  in  the  semblance  by 
which  he  was  visible  while  in  the  iiesh.  The  man  thus  visited 
beholds  them,  now  proffering  insidious  caresses  from  which  he 
shrinks,  because  they  are  foul  with  every  species  of  decay. 
Then  he  sees  them,  menacing  with  uplifted  weapons,  threaten- 
ing to  crush  him  beneath  rocks,  or  tear  him  with  their  teeth. 
Thus  come,  providentially  and  sensationally,  the  hidden  things 
of  the  heart,  and,  pantomimed  within  the  body  and  reinacted 
to  its  perceptions,  the  coming  events  that  await  those  fixed 
in  obduracy,  cast  their  shadows  before. 

819.  The  Calvinistic  and  its  adjunct  Churches  will  thus  be 
judged;  it  must  be  premised  of  this  that,  unlike  Eome  and 
the  Greek  Church,  it  took  its  rise  in  an  era  pregnant  with 
noble  inspirations,  and  that,  unlike  the  African  Church,  its 
sway  has  been  exercised  where  nations  have  flourished  under 
influences  most  favourable  to  the  benignant  growths  of  charity. 
This  judgment  applies  only  to  such  of  its  professed  teachers 
and  followers  as  have  used  the  doctrines  of  election  and  pre- 
destination to  steel  the  hearts  of  men  against  mercy,  tolerance, 
and  truth.  The  doctrine  that  men  are  saved  or  damned  by 
irresistible  fate  deserves  unmeasured  reprobation ;  because 
through  it  the  weak,  tempted,  tortured  disciple  is  assailed  by 
demons,  who  infest  him  with  the  thought  that  such  as  he^  so 


SEC.  818—820.]  TSE  APOCALYPSE.  445 


miserable  and  oppressed,  must  be  objects  of  Divine  disfavour. 
The  man  of  an  insensitive  conscience,  on  tlie  other  extreme,  is 
inflated  by  demons  through  self-love,  to  believe  himself  an 
especial  vessel  of  mercy.  Its  effects  are  seen  in  the  impo- 
tency  of  one,  and  the  obduracy  of  the  other.  Every  tenet  that 
impeaches  the  infinite  benignity  of  the  Supreme  Spirit,  cor- 
rupts the  fountains  whence  flow  all  the  springs  of  principle  to 
action ;  it  is  but  one  step  from  believing  in  a  hateful  God,  to 
becoming  an  unjust  man.  The  fatal  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
vindictiveness  and  cruelty  begets  a  spirit  alien  to  forbearance 
and  mercy.  Sects  which  have  followed  the  Calvinistic  scheme 
have  been  prone  to  consider  their  enemies  as  God's  enemies, 
setting  up  their  own  stern  creed  as  the  code  which  regulates 
the  chancery  of  Heaven.  The  fixed  fatalist  will  receive  this 
judgment :  A  demon  will  rise  who  personates  the  recordino* 
angel,  showing  him  his  name  inscribed  among  the  damned;  he 
will,  in  visions,  remonstrate  ineffectually,  demanding  opportu- 
nities to  prove,  by  virtuous  motives  and  conduct,  that  the 
Divine  clemency  may  change  his  destiny  without  detriment  to 
the  gospel  scheme.  He  will  see,  in  successive  trances  of  this 
sort,  that  the  solid  earth  on  which  he  stands  is  every  day  cir- 
cumscribed more  and  more  by  the  fiery  flood,  until  at  last,  in 
an  agony,  he  counts  the  inches  that  remain.  The  fate  which  so 
complacently  he  has  assigned  to  others,  will  be  brought  home 
in  expectancy  with  all  its  horrors  to  himself. 

820.  Those  who  persecute  with  keen  zest  such  as  differ 
from  them  in  opinions,  and  delight  to  embitter  their  days  by 
public  and  private  invectives,  will  find  a  judgment  more  severe. 
I  was  shown  a  newspaper  editor,  noted  for  defaming  and  as- 
persing his  polemical  opponents,  who,  in  his  private  mind,  en- 
tertained no  doubt  that  such  ought  to  be  damned  without 
mercy ;  and  those  of  like  condition  may  see  in  this  picture  a 
warning  sent  in  mercy.  Being  partially  made  sensible  of  the 
presence  of  evil  genii,  one  held  in  his  hand  a  cup  filled  with 
that  poison  that  distils  through  the  veins  of  the  demons  who 
on  earth  were  nominally  Chinstian  men,  and  who  cruelly  hated 
their  doctrinal  opponents.  Every  time  he  writes  and  speaks 
words  in  which  this  hate-spirit  predominates,  one  drop  falls 
from  the  finger  of  the  demon,  which  he  dips  in  the  cap,  and 


446  AliCANA    OF   CIIRISTIAmTY.  [chap.  in. 

slowly  penetrates  through  the  brain,  until  it  rests  upon  the 
heart,  where  it  is  felt  as  a  lire-worm,  creeping  and  eating  to 
its  core.  The  venom  which  is  in  the  heart  of  such,  in  a  crude 
state,  is  of  the  same  quality  as  that  which  the  demon  brings. 

821.  Men  who  complaisantly  indulge  the  idea,  that  be- 
cause elected  they  are  God^s  favoui-ites,  and  that  their  sins  are 
not  imputed  to  them,  while  others  of  nobler  life  are  doomed  to 
perdition,  because,  not  being  of  the  elect,  their  sins  are  im- 
puted to  them,  receive  this  judgment-correction,  when  they 
have  committed  a  sin  or  a  series  of  sins.  The  evils  grow  and 
dwell  within  the  mind  until  they  become  ulcers  there ;  a  pain- 
ful sensation  then  begins  in  the  body,  as  if  over  against  the 
heart  ulcerations  and  enlargements  are  taking  place.  Where 
the  sin  has  been  avarice  and  disregard  of  the  wants  of  others, 
whom  it  was  practicable  and  righteous  to  relieve,  the  bowels 
are  contracted,  as  if  by  invisible  iron  fingers,  holding  and 
winding  them  till  the  frame  is  bent  and  doubled.  The 
habit  of  clutching  and  holding  takes  form  before  the  eye  in- 
closed hands  that  will  not  open.  Thus,  in  a  great  variety  of 
forms,  it  is  demonstrated  to  them  that  the  righteous  God  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  but  that  sins  are  imputed  to  every  man 
and  visited  upon  him  till  he  abhors  and  overcomes  them. 

822.  Those  who  believe  that  infants  and  Pagans  are  lost, 
the  one  not  having  exercised  choice,  and  the  other  never  having 
heard  Christ  preached  in  charity  and  truth,  receive  this  judg- 
ment :  the  celestial  principle  within  the  will  and  the  under- 
standing, which  they  have  outraged  in  themselves,  and  which 
is  infantile  in  form,  seems  like  a  babe  in  their  own  breasts  that 
has  been  damned,  and  is  now  in  the  torments  of  Hell,  because 
not  predestined  to  salvation,  while  the  inmost  spiritual  prin- 
ciple in  the  mind  and  will>  a  partially  embodied,  ignorant 
Pagan,  seems  also  wringing  its  hands  and  groaning  through 
their  vitals,  moaning  that  it  is  "  Lost,  lost,  lost,  never  having 
had  an  opportunity  of  being  saved.-''  This  last  will  visit  vast 
bodies  of  divines,  who  preach  and  argue  that  the  ignorant 
heathen  are  doomed  to  perdition.  The  outrage  which  they 
commit  against  the  celestial  and  spiritual  principle  of  good 
and  truth  within  themselves,  let  down  sensationally,  will  pro- 
duce within  the  body  these  terrible  experiences.    In  fine,  each 


SEC.  821—824.]  TRE  APOCALYPSE.  447 

wlio  cherislies  the  falsity  tliat  his  innocent  and  ignorant  brother 
is  cast  into  Hell  torment,  will  reap  a  judgment  upon  it  by 
means  of  a  similar  principle  within  himself. 

823.  Those  who  fly  into  a  fury  of  passion  when  the  faith- 
dogma  is  assailed,  will  receive  as  follows :  the  wrath  which 
they  thus  display  in  the  understanding  will  slowly  ooze  into 
the  great  centre  of  the  ganglions  as  corrosive  fire ;  they  will 
feel  sensationally  what  is  the  moral  quality  of  the  faith-dogma 
in  its  essence,  and  will  know  themselves  in  cherishing  it  to 
beget  a  condition  in  the  soul  which  precipitates  a  moving  liquid 
fire -stream  into  the  sensations  of  the  bodily  frame.  This  judg- 
ment will  follow  with  great  rapidity. 

824.  Those  who  go  forth  as  religious  teachers,  and  commit 
an  offence  against  the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  by  zealously 
and  from  a  fixed  faith  attempting  to  convert  Pagan  nations  to 
the  belief  that  fates  are  ever  fixed  before  birth,  or  that  only  a 
partial  means  of  salvation  is  provided  for  mankind,  or  that 
there  is  malignity  in  God,  or  that  opinion  is  identical  with 
faith  that  justifies,  or  that  those  who  in  the  light  of  even  the 
most  obscure  tradition  seek  to  practice  truth  and  mercy  from 
motives  of  love  and  obedience  to  the  Great  First  Cause  are 
cast  into  hell-fire ;  these,  because  they  are  begetting  hatred  to 
the  Gospel  by  mis-interpreting  its  principles,  or  nourishing  a 
ferocious  dogma  upon  the  blood  of  slain  charity  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Word,  or  obscuring  with  bewildering  clouds  the  strait 
and  narrow  way,  will  thus  encounter  then*  own  judgment : 
First,  the  nerve- essence  will  be  laid  open,  and  then  converted 
into  a  torture-chamber,  sensationally  present  through  the 
whole  frame.  When  this  is  efiected,  the  falsity  they  have 
taught  will  seem  to  enter  that  chamber,  as  if  it  were  a  ravisher 
with  inflamed  visage.  The  celestial  principle  in  the  will  will 
be  observed  and  felt  as  if  she  were  a  tender  virgin  betrothed 
to  Heaven,  whom  this  monster  persecutes.  This  will  be  ac- 
companied with  such  anguish  as  cannot  be  told,  sensationally 
aff"ecting  every  fibre  of  the  frame,  this  being  its  explanation : 
The  principle  of  religion,  which  is  love  and  clemency  in  the 
will,  where  cruel  and  ferocious  dogmas  of  this  type  grow  to 
facts  within  the  understanding,  is  literally  persecuted  thus,  till 
either  clemency  and  mercy  leave  the  will  entirely,  or  the  mon- 


448  ABC  AN  A    OF   CRBISTIANITT.  [chap.  hi. 

ster  is  cast  down.  The  bod}'  is  made  sensationally  to  reveal 
the  spiritual  tragedy  which  takes  place  within.  The  hardened 
doctrinalists,  who  instil  these  things  into  infant  minds^  and 
enforce  them  upon  youths  in  training  for  the  ministry,  will  be 
subject  to  the  same. 

825.  The  new  age  requires  for  its  service  men  to  whom  there 
shall  be  no  doubt  concerning  obedience  to  the  felt  dictates  of 
the  Lord.  The  waverer  will  fail  hence.  It  is  requisite  that, 
step  by  step,  every  octave  in  the  organ  of  the  mind  should  be 
attuned  in  the  obedience  which  the  Lord  exacts.  "  Get  thee 
out  of  thy  kindred  and  thy  country,'^  was  the  command  to 
Abraham.  The  apostles  bravely  died  to  Judaism  with  its 
exactions ;  they  forsook  all  to  follow  the  Master.  The  test  of 
obedience  which  the  rigidly  educated  religionist  will  find  ex- 
acted of  him,  will  be  the  public  renunciation  of  every  sectarian 
and  party  name.  He  will  find  it  impossible,  if  faithful  to  con- 
victions, to  stand  connected  with  any  sect,  however  broad 
its  platform  or  liberal  its  professions.  The  new  creation  is 
sui  generis. 

826.  The  Anglican  Chm-ch,  with  its  afiiliated  bodies,  next 
claims  attention.  When  it  was  seen  by  the  angels  to  be  dere- 
lict, they  abandoned  it  to  its  fate;  and  now  the  following- 
judgments  are  prepared  to  be  poured  into  its  bosom  :  Being 
not  in  its  priesthood  a  true  series,  either  as  to  appointment, 
relations,  or  services,  the  sensation  of  internal  disorder  will 
appear.  To  the  bishop,  when  he  goes  forth  to  ordain,  the  Voice 
speaking  in  the  breast  will  cry,  "  Forbear."  Should  he  persist 
in  the  attempt  to  confer  the  priestly  power,  his  utterance  will 
be  suspended.  Upon  priests  already  ordained,  and  also  on 
deacons,  such  portions  of  the  service  ordered  to  be  read  as 
form  no  part  of  a  true  declaration  of  the  gospel  will  affect 
them,  when  uttered,  with  a  sense  of  strangulation.  If  after 
warnings  they  persist  in  their  use,  paralysis  will  follow.  To  such 
of  any  degree  as  are  not  in  true  virtue,  and  who  prostitute  the 
priestly  function  through  moral  unfitness,  inabihty  to  administer 
the  Holy  Sacrament  will  be  the  first  manifestation  of  the  visit- 
ation that  is  to  ensue.  A  strange  horror  will  affect  them  as 
they  attempt  to  pronounce  the  formulas  over  the  bread  and 
wine.     The  lungs  will  seem  to  enlarge,  and  then  to  rise ;  and 


SEC.  825—829.]         THE   APOCALYPSE.  449 

tlien  a  dumb,  unearthly  tongue  seem  striving  then  to  cry  with- 
in the  breast,  ^''Unclean,  unclean  V  Sudden  death  will  follow 
the  refusals  to  obey  such  monitions. 

827.  A  third  judgment  will  befal  those  who  exercise  the 
appointing  power  to  livings  and  preferments,  should  this  be 
still  permitted  by  law.  When  benefices  fall  vacant,  and  they 
are  about  to  dispose  of  them  by  gift,  the  knees  will  smite  to- 
gether, and  shock  after  shock  as  from  the  Voltaic  pile  convulse 
the  nervous  system.  A  silent  horror  will  at  the  same  time  in- 
vade the  mind.  This  will  be  an  early  premonition,  but  God  will 
visit  such  as,  being  openly  warned,  attempt  to  continue  the 
practice,  with  immediate  death.  It  will  be  felt  by  the  public 
conscience  of  the  land  that  God  is  pouring  out  a  condemnation 
ujDon  all  who  justify  the  mode  of  presentation  which  now 
exists.  The  judgment  upon  such  as  either  buy  or  sell  advow- 
sons  for  livings,  whether  directly  or  as  agents  for  others,  will 
be  a  third  horror, — a  darkness  before  the  vision  conjoined 
with  ana^uish  in  the  heart.  Such  as  use  their  voices  to  neg-o- 
tiate  sales  will  be  afilicted  with  a  disease  in  the  larynx ;  this 
first,  and  afterward,  if  abuses  continue,  with  instant  death. 

828.  The  next  judgment  will  be  a  pouring-out  upon  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  this  wise  :  The  agony  of  souls  in 
torment  will  seize  upon  those  who  hold  the  compilation  in  as 
sacred  a  reverence  as  they  do  the  Word.  A  conviction  will  be 
as  a  dawning  light  thrown  into  the  mind,  that  it  is  a  past  and 
not  a  present  help  or  aid  in  devotion.  The  hands  of  the  godly 
will  be  moved,  with  great  unanimity,  when  the  Word  is  touched, 
to  clasp  it  to  the  breast ;  but  quietly  to  place  the  other 
volume  with  objects  that  have  been  treasured,  but  whose  work 
is  done.  To  those  who  reverently  obey  the  Spirit,  the  new 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  containing  the  celestial  sense  of  the 
Word,  in  its  adaptation  to  devotional  exercises,  will  be  given ; 
and  this  the  hands  will  be  moved  to  receive  and  to  place  with 
and  under  the  Word  j  after  which  they  will  find  in  it  Divine 
blessings. 

829.  The  ungodly  in  the  Anglican  Church,  who,  being 
warned,  defy  the  Holy  Ghost  and  resist  its  infiuoncc,  will  be 
infested  with  all  the  judgments  poured  out  upon  the  Greek, 
Latin^  or  African  churches,  according  to  their  peculiar  internal 

p  p 


450  ARCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

state,  and  witli  a  vast  variety  of  accessions.  This  is  because 
each  will  find  his  latent  bosom  sin  represented  by  a  corres- 
ponding grief  or  anguish  or  tumult  in  the  bodily  frame. 

830.  The  Evangelical  Protestant  Church,  so-called,  through- 
out Christendom,  so  far  as  distinct  from  the  fixed  Calvinism 
stated  of  before,  now  has  place.  Of  its  judgments  the  follow- 
ing must  serve  as  an  epitome.  The  heresy  which  some  enter- 
tain of  Tritheism,  or  a  belief  that  there  are  absolutely  three 
Deities,  will  assume  the  form  of  a  three-headed,  barking  mon- 
ster, subjectively  present  in  the  nervous  body.  Again  it  will 
appear  as  three  serpents,  so  intervolved  that  to  sensuous  per- 
ception they  will  seem  but  one  ;  and  again,  as  three  old  men 
grown  together  by  joints  and  bands  of  stone.  Thus  the  image 
of  this  deformity  of  doctrine  and  perversion  of  truth  will  be 
sensationally  present  in  the  physical  structure ;  a  load  which 
the  man  must  carry  with  incredible  toil,  till  the  mind  repulses 
it  in  the  acceptance  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  His  divine 
humanity  as  the  Almighty. 

831.  Those  who  believe,  that,  after  death,  those  indiscrimi- 
nately who  are  in  a  salvable  condition,  without  any  process  of 
continued  regeneration,  are  angels,  will  see  themselves  in  spirit 
dying  and  waking  to  a  continued  existence,  with  every  evil, 
which  had  not  been  wrought  out  from  the  afi'ections  of  the  life, 
a  living  organic  creature  withiu  the  body  or  the  breast  of  the 
spiritual  form;  each  sin  being  seen  in  its  own  peculiar  de- 
formity, and  felt  as  an  incubus.  Belief  in  the  immediate 
Heaven  that,  in  their  fantasies,  awaits  believers,  will  thus 
recede,  and  the  true  conception  of  the  World  of  Spirits  gra- 
dually follow. 

882.  Those  fixed  in  the  heresy  alluded  to  elsewhere,  which 
denies  the  sanctity  and  eternity  of  conjugial  love,  even  in  the 
first  bloom  of  natural  nuptials,  will  find  that  when  afiectionately 
they  would  embrace  their  consorts,  as  by  a  universal  motion 
the  forms  will  move  apart  and  remain  inclined  from  each  other. 
This  is  by  strict  correspondence,  because,  when  these  who 
have  been  religious  pass  into  the  World  of  Spirits,  and  still 
cherish  this  fantasy,  it  removes  them,  husband  from  wife,  with 
impassable  barriers  placed  between. 

833.  Those  who  make  use  of  the  doctrines  of  justification 


SEC.  830—834.]         THE  APOCALYPSE.  451 

by  faith,  and  of  imputed  righteousness,  to  vindicate  the  heresy 
that  men  can  be  saved  without  a  justifying  principle  in  the 
will,  of  strict  obedience  to  the  Divine  Love,  an  assimilated 
righteousness  from  Christ  in  the  bosom,  will  thus  find  judg- 
ment manifested.  The  Lord  will  open  their  eyes  to  perceive 
wandering  demons,  and  the  understanding  to  comprehend  that 
those  who  appear  were  once  even  as  they  are,  strenuous  assert- 
ers  of  these  things;  and  while  the  demons  with  one  voice,  pro- 
ceeding from  within,  pronounce  the  most  fearful  impieties,  and 
thus  lay  bare  the  depth  of  the  hell  within  the  heart,  through 
another  external  voice  they  will  be  heard  declaring  themselves 
to  be  saints  and  angels,  having  been  welcomed  into  Heaven 
through  acceptance  of  these  identical  opinions  concerning 
imputed  righteousness  and  justification  by  faith  alone.  Then 
the  states  of  the  demons,  by  correspondence,  will  pass  over 
into  those  who  receive  the  visitation,  j)roducing  this  most 
fearful  result :  the  heart,  not  confirmed  in  the  denial  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  will  seek  to  repulse  and  put  far  from  it  the 
demoniacal  presence ;  this  because  the  states  are  opposed. 
Contrariwise,  the  mind  will  eagerly  rush  into  the  embrace  of 
the  demoniacal  mind,  because  they  have  agreed  as  one  in 
consonance  of  idea.  So  the  will  will  feel  the  mind  locked  in 
the  embrace  of  a  demon,  while  the  body,  between  the  lungs 
and  the  heart,  will  seem  cleft  and  breaking  asunder.  This,  with 
especial  severity,  will  be  a  judgment  for  divines,  and  others 
who  with  a  zeal  of  doctrine  propagate  the  views  in  question. 

834.  Those  who  maintain  that  there  is  no  internal  sense  in 
the  Divine  Word,  and  who  seek  to  limit  belief  to  the  letter, 
will  be,  as  a  judgment,  for  a  time  reduced  to  feel  that  all  their 
own  life  is  upon  the  surface  of  the  body;  while  brain,  heart, 
lungs,  and  viscera  are  hollow.  The  sensation  of  beino-  coloured 
air-bubbles  in  the  human  form  will  afflict  them,  and  they  will,  so 
far  as  sensation  carries  them,  behold  all  men  in  the  like  case. 
Everything  will  seem  to  have  lost  its  substance  and  to  be  a 
shell  or  surface  only.  When  they  have  turned  to  the  Lord, 
He  will  remove  the  judgment,  and  a  sensation  of  human  life 
within  the  nerves,  and  of  living  joy  therein,  will  grow  upon 
them,  as  they  readily  admit  that  within  the  pictured  surface  of 
Holy  Writ  exists  a  divine  body  of  eternal  verities. 

F  p  2 


452  ARCANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITT.         [chap.  in. 

835.  Those  wlio  practise  fraud,  hypocrisy,  or  oppression  in 
life,  maintaining  at  the  same  time  a  reverence  for  the  dogma 
and  a  ceremonial  of  faith,  will  be  made  monuments  before  the 
world,  until  they  repent  and  forsake  their  evils  in  this  manner : 
the  head  will  be  turned  backward,  so  that,  whichever  way  tliey 
walk,  they  seem  as  to  the  countenance  to  proceed  in  the 
opposite  direction;  this  is  symbolical  of  their  state,  gazing 
towards  Heaven,  but  moving  towards  Hell. 

836.  Internal  respiration  will  be  hated  by  pseudo-religionists, 
who  profess  evangelical  tenets,  because  it  makes  man-service 
and  self-service  incompatible  with  avowed  piety.  It  is  the 
misfortune  of  these  doctrines,  that  whilst  multitudes  who 
cherish  them  sincerely  love  the  Lord  in  truth  and  virtue,  other 
multitudes  use  them  as  a  decorous  and  easy  cloak  which  covers 
a  multitude  of  sins.  A  ceaseless  torrent  of  cant  pours  from 
the  lips  of  covetous,  sycophantic,  vain,  and  artful  men,  espe- 
cially found  in  the  trading  classes.  Far  as  the  east  is  from  the 
west  the  godly  profession  and  the  ungodly  practice  are  put 
asunder.  The  most  fearful  profanities  are  committed  where 
the  pious  conversation,  larded  with  Biblical  phrases  and  inter- 
spersed with  prayers  and  ejaculations,  meanders  over  the  sur- 
fixce  of  life,  while  the  poison-plants  of  deception  are  rank  and 
numberless.  The  sword  of  the  Spirit,  sharp  and  piercing,  will 
be  the  judgment  which  follows.  Those  who  seek  to  turn  the 
faces  of  co-religionists  against  the  open  respiration,  which  is 
effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  will  be  punished  by  the  breath  stream- 
ing forth,  first  to  touch,  with  the  gentlest  pressure,  that  highest 
point  at  which  the  natural  lungs  rise  to  meet  the  spiritual. 
It  will  then  be  felt  by  them  as  if  a  sharp  instrument  were  pro- 
bing to  the  depths  of  the  organic  nature  ;  within  the  nerves,  at 
first  a  soft,  tremulous  undulation  will  be  felt,  as  the  evening 
summer  air,  yet  affecting  with  presentiments  of  judgment,  and 
stirring  up  the  soul  to  make  its  last  decision.  Woe  to  those 
who  then  resist  the  Spirit.  "  He,  that  being  often  reproved 
hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  with- 
out remedy.''^ 

837.  The  religious  body  known  as  Wesleyan  Methodists 
demands  a  statement  of  its  own.  It  represents  that  dawn- 
light  of  the  new  Christian  age,  which  began  to  appear  in  the 


SEC.  835—838.]  TEE   APOCALYPSE.  453 

Upper  Eartli  of  S^^irits  connected  with,  our  globe  a  little  over 
a  century  ago.  It  is  the  vehicle  for  copious  influx  descending 
from  the  New  Heaven,  but  extremely  modified  through  spirit- 
ual societies  in  the  inWsible  world,  which,  however,  are  now  in 
rapid  states  of  dissolution.  It  represents,  more  nearly  than 
any  other  body  in  the  world,  the  system  which  was  intro- 
duced through  the  apostles,  and,  were  closed  respiration  to 
continue,  would  become  universal.  It  cannot  however,  because, 
eminently  adapted  as  it  is  to  a  rude  and  fettered  Christian 
experience,  it  fails  to  meet  and  embrace  that  moving,  recon- 
structive harmony  through  which  God^s  New  Heavens  descend 
to  institute  newness  in  the  earth.  Its  judgment  will  be  mild, 
consisting  first  of  stress  laid  in  the  Spirit  on  its  most  devout 
teachers  to  sejoarate  themselves  from  its  local  and  general 
conferences,  standing  entirely  apart,  amenable  for  their  public 
course  to  the  Master  only,  and  led  by  Him  irrespective  of  the 
system  of  the  allotment  of  ministers  from  vicinity  to  vicinity. 
Much  power  will  follow  these,  though  at  first  accompanied  with 
a  share  of  extravagance  and  indiscrimination ;  but  the  best 
life  of  the  evangelical  movement  will  copiously  diffuse  itself 
through  them.  The  Spirit,  that  wrought  for  itself  many  forms 
in  primitive  MetHodism,  must  leave,  both  in  Great  Britain  and 
America,  the  huge  organizations  which  inherit  its  prestige. 

838.  The  class-meeting  will  be  visited  by  a  judgment.  Men 
will  stand  up  and  declare  insincerely  the  workings  of  the  Spirit 
in  them,  in  stereotyped  and  formal  phrase,  and  then  great 
horror  will  overcome  them,  and  paralysis.  The  extravagance 
of  statement  which  now  veils  a  meagre  experience  will  meet 
with  a  terrific  rebuke,  and  a  winnowing  and  sifting  process 
thus  begin.  The  true  prayer  is  deep  and  tender;  it  seeks 
for  itself  subdued  utterance,  and  produces  devout  and  holy 
quiet.  The  prayer  meeting  may  become,  when  abused,  a  reli- 
gious tap-room,  where  men  upon  their  knees  drink  delirium 
from  infesting  evil  spirits.  The  loud,  shrieking,  boisterous 
prayer,  which  ends  for  a  time  the  holy  stillness  of  the  soul,  and 
produces  sympathetically  a  frenzy,  borders  on  the  wild  extra- 
vagance which  characterizes  the  madmen  of  the  invisible 
state.  ^Vhen  insincerity  in  life  is  accompanied  with  a  habit  of 
public  praying,  in  the  midst   of.  rhapsodical  petitions  for  the 


454  ABCANA    OF   CnRISTIANITY.         [crap.  in. 

descent  of  tlie  Holy  Spirit,  an  answer  will  come  that  shall 
strike  with  sudden  fear  upon  all  who  behold  it.  The  man  will 
rise  unable  to  articulate.  His  secret  evils  will  then  flow  out, 
and  a  disposition  to  curse  vent  itself  in  oaths  and  impreca- 
tions. Those  who  have  thus  pi'ofaned  the  rite  of  worship,  and 
indulged  among  their  companions  in  lewd  witticisms  and  anec- 
dotes, will  speak  from  the  heart  instead  of  from  the  artificial 
mind.  "  There  is  nothing  concealed  that  shall  not  bo  made 
known. ""^ 

839.  The  habit  of  scandal,  which,  with  all  the  more  fervid 
and  enthusiastic  of  religious  bodies  becomes  a  periodical 
delirium,  favoured  by  the  espionage  which  the  workings  of  any 
creed-system  require,  and  which  is  a  complete  inversion  of 
the  charity  that  thinketh  no  evil,  will  find  its  terrible  rebuke. 
When  those  who  mingle  the  dissections  of  the  character  of  the 
absent  with  prayer  and  praise  are  in  the  height  of  their  impure 
love,  the  voice  will  change,  and  a  barking  madness  be  de- 
veloped. Some  voices  for  the  moment  will  be  those  of  the  wolf 
that  feeds  on  human  flesh,  and  others  those  of  the  jackal  or 
the  hyena.  This  is  because  the  passions  in  question  take  upon 
themselves  these  forms  within  the  spirit,  and,  when  let  forth 
in  the  body,  re-enact  themselves  in  a  painful  symbolism. 
Those  who  have  taken  delight  in  retailing  scandals  will  be 
followed  by  the  odour  of  corrupting  flesh,  and  the  common 
voice  when  singing  will  change,  in  spite  of  themselves,  to 
a  nasal  whine  which  indicates  hypocrisy.  Those  who  assume 
a  peculiar  garb,  gait,  and  address,  which  savours  of  a  seeming 
godliness,  while  inwardly  they  covet  praise  and  pleasure  in  the 
love  of  self,  will  strip  themselves  in  sudden  frenzies  of  their 
garments  of  hypocrisy,  till  the  style  of  costume,  speech,  and 
appearance  is  in  keeping  with  what  is  within. 

840.  Judgments  will  follow  those  who  attempt  to  up-build 
the  sect  by  a  Jesuitical  policy,  suppressing  the  freedom  of 
speech  which  conflicts  with  authorized  dogma,  and  bringing 
into  disfavour  the  enlightened  and  the  good,  who  aim  to  pro- 
mote the  ends  of  advanced  truth  and  holiness.  Journalists 
will  find  the  hand  refuse  to  write  and  the  voice  to  dictate. 
The  weapons  formed  against  God  shall  not  prosper.  Preachers 
who   deny  the   Holy  Ghost,  and  attempt  to   cultivate  the  elo- 


SEC.  839—842.]  TRE  APOGALTFSE.  455 

quence  of  tlie  natural  rhetorician,  inventing  prayers  for  effect, 
and  practising  from  the  inspirations  of  the  stage-player,  will 
grow  torpid  by  an  inward  death,  which,  with  benumbing  cold- 
ness stifles  the  memory,  overclouds  the  imagination,  and  makes 
bare  of  charm  the  laboured  epithet  and  studied  posture.  The 
practised  pulpit  reader  will  see  the  letters  of  the  manuscript 
fading  before  the  eye.  The  memorist  will  forget  in  the  midst 
of  delivery  all  that  was  to  have  been  uttered.  It  will  be  a  ne- 
cessity to  utter  what  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart  is  labour- 
ing with,  or  to  stand  silent.  The  artificial  pulpit  orator  will 
thus  come  to  naught,  and  those  who  suppress  truth  find  that 
truth  is  omnipotent  for  their  suppression. 

841.  The  revivalist  of  an  impure  sort,  who  produces,  through 
magnetic  and  magical  fascinations  in  public,  but  especially 
through  an  oratory  whose  tones  are  laden  with  infernal  fire,  a 
passing  excitement  which  is  mistaken  for  a  Divine  visitation, 
will  find  iron  hands  grasping  him  by  the  arm  and  leading  him 
out  from  his  distinguished  place.  The  Lord's  Divine  strength 
will  body  itself  forth  through  the  Heavens,  and,  though  un- 
seen, with  such  might  that  iron  columns  shall  bend  before  it 
like  stalks  of  grass,  or  melt  as  if  but  snowflakes.  "Mouth," 
signifies,  that  holy  proceeding  of  the  Lord  which  encompasses 
and  holds  within  itself  the  charitable  of  every  creed.  To 
"  spue  out,"  signifies,  that  when  the  Divine  judgments  are 
thus  poured  forth,  all  such  as  confirm  themselves  in  coldness 
against  the  love-breath  of  our  Lord,  whose  manifestation  is 
the  gentleness  and  the  perfect  integrity  of  charity,  will  no 
more  be  encircled  by  the  Spirit's  enclosing  mouth,  but  be  cast 
out  beyond  it,  and  their  place  found  not  any  more. 

Chap.  hi.  17. — "Because  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  in- 
creased WITH  GOODS,  AND  HAVE  NEED  OP  NOTHING;  AND 
KNOWEST  NOT  THAT  THOU  AET  WRETCHED,  AND  MISERABLE, 
AND    POOR,    AND    BLIND,    AND   NAKED." 

NINETEENTH    ILLHSTEATION. 

Events  transpiring  in  tlie  World  of  Spirits  among  Eomish  ecclesiastics. — 
Their  follies  and  insanities. 

842.  I  saw  in  the  third  earth  of  the  Upper  World  of  Spirits, 


45G  ARCANA    OF    CHRISTIANITY.         [chap.  hi. 

connected  with  our  orb,  ;i  vast  series  of  landscapes  appropriated 
to  the  habitations  of  men  from  Christendom,  who  retain  for  a 
time  the  peculiar  mental  states  and  mixed  qualities  of  good 
and  evil  which  characterized  them  while  in  the  flesh;  and  first 
I  entered  a  society  of  Romanists,  It  was  a  large  city,  in  many 
respects  resembling  Naples.  The  filth  of  excrements  lay  in 
pools  before  the  windows,  and  a  noisome  odour  arose,  except 
when  the  upper  airs  dispelled  it.  The  habitations  were 
crowded  into  labyrinthine  alleys,  but  here  and  there  stood 
in  open  spaces  huge  massive  edifices,  some  in  appearance 
recently  erected,  but  in  the  main  very  old.  A  monk  was 
holding  forth,  under  a  canopy  at  the  head  of  an  alley,  upon 
the  efficacy  of  relics.  A  travelling  comedian  at  the  corner 
opposite  was  exhibiting  Punchinello.  Overhead  were  buzzards 
and  vultures,  and  lean,  mangy  curs  howled  among  the  popu- 
lace. It  was  a  squalid  scene  of  filth,  ignorance,  and  supersti- 
tion. 

843.  An  angel  beckoned  to  me  from  an  opened  window;  I 
knew  him  to  be  angelic  through  internal  perception,  otherwise 
from  the  plain  respectability  of  his  attire  he  might  have  been 
mistaken  for  a  notary.  The  house  I  entered,  though  clean  and 
neat,  differed  architecturally  without  in  no  respect  from  others. 
Upon  a  little  silver  plate,  set  near  a  knob,  the  name  ''Justice" 
was  written.  I  was  saluted  on  entering  by  my  friends  Zalutha 
and  Zalathuma  (see  Children  of  Hymen) .  These  are  angels  in 
an  ultimate  society  of  the  Celestial  Heaven  which  is  called  the 
"  Orb  of  the  Incarnation.''^  The  house  was  full  of  the  odour 
of  balsamic  plants,  and  the  floors  were  of  plain,  white  marble. 
I  was  conducted  into  an  inner  apartment,  but  this,  unlike  the 
more  exterior  rooms,  was  enriched  with  beautiful  objects  from 
the  Celestial  Heaven.  After  we  had  interchanged  greetings,  I 
observed  that  the  apartment  opened  toward  the  sea,  and  that 
an  undulaut  paradise  was  above  it,  toward  the  morning  sun, 
and  a  winding  spiral  ascent  by  means  of  which  one  could 
ascend  and  be  in  it. 

844.  While  beholding  and  delightfully  conversing,  a  cry 
was  heard  from  without,  and  Zalutha  took  keys  in  his  hand 
and  walked  forth,  while  in  the  spirit  I  was  led  to  accompany 
him.     A  violent,  angry  dissension  had  arisen  between  the  co- 


SEC.  843—845.]        TRE   AFOCALTPSJE.  457 

median  and  tlie  mouk ;  tlie  one  maintaining  tliat  all  miracles 
wrouglit  by  Romish  priests  were  simply  tlie  result  of  natural 
magic  or  cliemistry,  and  tlio  otlier  calling  liim  a  heretic.  As 
tliey  saw  Zalutlia,  though  still  gesticulating  violently^  both  de- 
sisted, and  moving  to  the  spot  while  the  crowd  divided  somewhat 
hurriedly,  my  friend  cried,  "  This  is  no  place  for  the  exhibi- 
tion of  polemics,  go  into  the  places  provided,  if  you  wish  to 
discuss  those  matters.''  At  this  they  both  exclaimed,  "  We 
will  discuss  j  "  and  followed  by  hundreds  also  excited  and 
gesticulating,  they  turned  up  a  better  and  cleaner  street  into 
a  square  where  stood  a  light  airy  structure  :  I  noticed  that 
though  a  dull,  dingy  atmosphere  enveloped  the  habitations, 
this  glittered  as  if  illuminated  by  the  young  dawn.  Zalutha 
opened  the  doors  and  stood  beneath  the  arched  portals ;  soon 
the  monk  drew  near,  and  through  internal  perception  I  beheld 
him  to  possess  a  small  germ  of  regenerative  life,  veiled  over 
by  the  superstitions  of  his  kind.  The  harlequin  was  the  better 
man  of  the  two,  as  was  denoted  by  his  fairer  skin,  but  still  a 
sceptic  as  to  his  natural  mind,  with  incredulity  singularly 
blended  with  the  remains  of  a  traditional  veneration  for  the  see 
of  Rome.  The  monk  wore  haircloth,  but  the  harlequin  his 
comedy  dress,  bizarre  and  fantastic  to  an  extreme.  The  hun- 
dreds who  followed  had  been  Romish  peasants  whilst  in  the 
flesh,  and  little  better  than  pagans,  though  in  heart  disposed  to 
regeneration,  and  therefore  in  a  salvable  state,  being  merci- 
fully judged,  because  upon  earth  they  had  enjoyed  but  the 
opportunities  of  a  servile  condition. 

845.  Within  the  building  were  ushers  with  white  wands, 
and  none  were  allowed  to  enter  till  they  had  prepared  them- 
selves by  ablutions,  of  which  some  of  them  stood  in  extreme 
need.  The  ushers  were  also  angels  of  the  same  Heaven,  but 
present  in  this  lower  Spiritual  Earth  to  assist  in  the  jDrocesses 
by  means  of  which  human  spirits  are  divested  of  the  inftitua- 
tious  that  cleave  to  them  for  the  time.  A  tribune  to  the  right 
was  allotted  to  the  priest,  and  one  opposite  to  the  harlequin, 
and,  according  to  their  prepossessions  for  or  against,  the 
hearers  were  arranged  to  the  right  or  left  in  the  midst  of  the 
semicircle.  Zalutha  then  spoke  and  said,  "  I  am  here  by  the 
direction  of  the  King  to  preserve  order ;  none  will  be  allowed 


458  ABCANA    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  [chap.  hi. 

to  interrupt  tlio  discussion  as  it  goes  on,  but  omens  will  appear 
wliicli  may  guide  you  in  forming  a  correct  decision/' 

846.  THe  friar  then  commenced,  and  said,  "  I  maintain  four 
propositions.  First,  tliat  wlien  the  Lord  Christ  departed  from 
the  world  He  committed  all  power  in  Heaven  and  Earth  to 
St.  Peter  in  trust,  who  bequeathed  it  in  due  succession  to  the 
present  pope,  our  holy  father,  in  whom  it  now  stands  vested;^' 
At  this  a  clamour  began,  and  heads  were  seen  rising  through 
the  stone  pavement,  between  the  rostrum  of  the  friar  and  the 
seats  in  the  quadrangle.  Three  demons  appeared,  one  with 
the  fiice  like  that  of  a  fox,  another  of  a  wolf,  and  the  third  of 
a  human  vultui-e ;  otherwise  they  were  in  the  human  form,  and 
clad  in  pontifical  vestments.  The  friar  cried,  "  Lo,  what  are 
these  ?  "  Then  the  first  cried,  "  I  am  Sixtus  Y. ;  "  another 
that  he  was  Innocent ;  another,  one  of  the  Clements.  They 
shouted  as  one,  "  We  are  confirmators,  and  having  been  popes, 
declare  that,  while  on  earth,  we  ruled  as  God's  vicegerents  with 
Divine  power.  Since  then  we  have  been  promoted  higher 
still,  and  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  having  abdicated, 
we  sit  on  their  thrones  judging  the  nations ;  but  chant  in  our 
praise  Gloria  Fatri,  aird  lo,  you  with  whom  we  are  pleased, 
shall  be  canonized  !  " 

847.  The  friar  looked  astounded  at  this  extension  of  the 
doctrine,  but  replied,  after  consideration,  "I  deny  the  propo- 
sition you  advance."  Whereat  the  first  speaker  cried,  "  My 
Son  will  answer  you,  after  which  the  Holy  Ghost  will  sanction 
it ;  but  I  shall  damn  you  unless  you  believe  their  testimony.'' 
At  this  Zalutha  put  forth  his  hand  and  touched  the  speaker, 
"  The  king  permits  dissensions  but  no  threatenings ;  otherwise 
it  becomes  my  duty  to  remove  you  to  a  place  of  confinement." 
The  quiet  dignity  with  which  Zalutha  spoke  convinced  the 
people  that  these  were  old  imbeciles,  puSed  up  with  their  delu- 
sion, and  in  their  seats  they  began  whispering  to  one  another. 
But  the  friar  made  bold  to  exclaim,  "  His  holiness,  the  present 
pope,  is  the  legatee  of  the  Divine  authority ;  the  pope  who 
dies  parts  with  it  to  his  successor."  The  first  then  cried,  "  I 
did  not  part  with  my  authority ;"  the  second,  "  Nor  did  I ;  " 
and  the  third,  "  Mine  is  intact  still."  They  shouted,  "  We 
all  are  popes  and  Lord  Gods ;  heretics  are  in  Hell  whom  we 


SEC.  846—849.]  TRE  APOCALTPSE.  459 

condemned,  and  saints  in  Heaven  wliom  we  exalted/''  At 
tliis  one  of  them  rang  a  small  hand-bell,  and  a  sly,  cunning 
demon,  of  a  most  obsequious  air,  arose  as  they  had,  crying, 
"  What  will  your  Lord-godship  have  ? ''  He  answered,  "  Bring 
the  keys/^  Then  drew  near,  also  arising,  one  who  had  been 
a  captain  in  the  papal  guard,  saying,  "  I  have  brought  them ; 
these  are  the  keys  of  Heaven  and  Hell,  but  the  others  I  left 
which  open  purgatory/^  A  scarlet  beast  now  made  its  appear- 
ance, rising  through  the  floor,  with  seven  horns ;  and  the  pope, 
who  had  sent  for  the  keys,  seeing  it,  cried,  ''  Exalt  me  !  "  at 
which,  lifted  by  the  captain  and  the  secretary,  he  was  placed 
upon  the  huge  animal.  This  was  the  one  who  personated  God 
the  Son.  The  harlequin  very  gravely  stripped  off  his  coloured 
coat  and  fantastic  head-dress,  throwing  them  before  the  self- 
inflated  old  man,  crying,  "  There  is  no  resisting  such  an  argu- 
ment, you  are  indeed  the  Magnum  Jo  vis. ^^  The  demon  took 
the  irony  of  the  pantomimist  for  worship,  and  pronounced 
these  words,  "  Well  done  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  into 
the  joys  of  thy  Lord;  '^  promoting  him  at  the  same  time  to  be 
seventh  councillor,  and  saying  that  if  he  did  well  he  should 
depose  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  proceed  into  him,  that  he  might 
occupy  the  third  throne. 

848.  The  friar  looked,  wondered,  and  exclaimed,  "  It  never 
occurred  to  me  before  to  question  the  doctrine  that  our  holy 
father  is  the  Divine  legate  upon  earth,  but  new  light  breaks 
upon  me.'"  The  man  on  the  beast  heard,  and  forgetting  the 
admonition  given,  shouted  the  words  of  the  greater  excommu- 
nication. Zalutha  at  this  touched  him  with  a  rod,  and  he 
tumbled  from  the  animal  and  was  cast  into  the  abyss,  speedily 
followed  by  the  others. 


849.  The  clause,  "■  I  am  rich,^^  signifies,  such  fantasies  enter- 
tained by  Romanists,  both  in  the  natural  world  and  the  Earth 
of  Spirits,  which  they  enter  after  leaving  the  body.  There  are 
other  and  deeper  significations. 


4G0  ABCAJSTA    OF   CRBISTIANITY.        [chap.  hi. 

TWENTIETH  ILLUSTEATION. 

Events  transpiring^  in  the  Heaven  of  Scotland. — Also  incidents  occurring  in 
the  Spiritual  World  to  spirits  of  the  Scottish  nation. 

850.  There  are  in  tlio  Scotcli  nation  many  both  of  the  types 
called  Thyatira  and  Sardis ;  and  Scotland  is  preserved,  through 
the  faithfulness  of  its  people,  from  many  of  the  prospective 
calamities  with  which  England  is  liable  to  be  overtaken.  This 
people  have  been  ridiculed  as  hypocritical,  owing  to  the  close 
alliance  in  their  minds  between  thrift  and  religion;  but  eco- 
nomy and  inspiration  should  dwell  together  in  one  house,  >as 
husband  and  wife,  and  celebrate  perpetual  nuptials.  A  cer- 
tain fire  and  tenacity,  which,  when  misled  and  intoxicated  with 
the  inflowing  of  evil,  develops  a  spirit  of  savage  persecution, 
in  its  orderly  manifestation  leads  those  under  its  influence 
through  the  long  eras  of  tribulation,  and  up  the  steep  acclivi- 
ties of  regeneration,  into  that  great  land  above  the  mountains ; 
to  drop  the  figure,  leads  them  to  the  discrete  degree  above  the 
natural  world.  As  the  spirit  of  the  old  Covenanters,  freed  from 
its  narrowness  and  bitterness,  reiippoars,  it  will  be  demonstrated 
that  even  in  Europe  are  the  remains  of  a  people  capable  of 
being  led  through  respiration  into  purity,  and  thence  into 
solidarity.  The  individualised  national  existence  of  North 
Britain  seems  to  have  terminated ;  the  political,  commercial, 
and  social  fusing  of  the  nations  being  complete.  But  there 
never  was  a  greater  error.  The  peculiar,  compromising  spirit 
of  England,  of  which  its  hybridised  national  church  is  a  fair 
exponent,  has  never  quite  penetrated  to  the  inmost  fibre  of 
Scottish  character. 

851.  I  saw  in  the  Scottish  Heaven  an  open  respiring  man,  a 
member  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  New  Life,  who  had  been 
initiated  through  many  sufferings  into  the  beginnings  of  the 
new  creation.  The  air  was  filled  with  martial  music,  and  soon 
after  the  clans  began  to  gather.  These  clans  I  discovered  to  be 
little  societies,  all  arranged  in  series.  An  ancient  crown  and 
sceptre  were  brought  forth,  and  a  peculiar  stone  of  a  talismanic 
nature,  with  a  throne  upon  it  j  and  when  this  open  respiring 
man  appeared,  forty  chieftains  advanced,  and  said  in  one  voice, 
''  Let  us  crown  this  man  representatively."     The  worthy  man 


SEC.  850— S53.]  TRE   APOCALYPSE.  4G1 

drew  back,  and  said,  "  Not  so,  not  so ;  I  am  a  novice ;"  but  the 
answer  was,  "  It  is  an  election.  The  first  Scot  in  whom  the 
divine  life  is  ultimated  through  the  beginnings  of  open  respira- 
tion on  earth,  by  an  ancient  ordinance  must  be  the  begiunino-  of 
the  royal  series  here/^  Still  he  drew  back,  and  another  utter- 
ance was  made  to  this  effect,  that  he  should  hold  the  place 
tentatively  till  another  of  his  nation  of  a  quality  more  akin  to 
royalty  should  enter  on  Earth  into  the  divine  harmonies, 

852.  He  drew  back,  even  then,  till  an  angel  appeared  who  said, 
addressing  him,  "  My  son,  by  means  of  this  consecration  you 
will  be  enabled  on  earth  to  be  much  more  thrifty  and  devoted 
in  your  humble  service  of  our  God  -j"  whereat  he  fell  upon  his 
face,  and  in  a  few  minutes  rose  and  said,  "  I  want  no  crown 
and  no  sceptre ;  for  I  am  one  of  those  who  did  not  struggle 
alone  into  this  condition ;  strong  arms  were  about  me,  and  I 
was  lifted  to  the  place."  But  the  angel  said  again,  "  If  you 
resist,  we  will  take  a  little  boy  in  whom  respiration  has  begun;" 
and  in  spirit  a  Scottish  lad  appeared  and  was  recognised,  and 
the  man  placed  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  child,  and  the 
angel  placed  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  man ;  and  in  that 
series  they  were  enveloped  in  a  resplendence.  First,  a  crown 
appeared  upon  the  head  of  the  angel,  and  then  as  it  were,  a 
crystallization  from  it  formed  an  open  diadem  on  the  head  of 
the  man,  and  a  halo,  in  which  were  the  first  formations  of  a 
crown,  upon  the  head  of  the  boy. 

853.  When  this  had  transpired,  Scotch  persons,  in  whom 
were  the  beginnings  of  respiration,  or  at  least  in  preparative 
respiration,  were  brought  into  the  circle,  and  robes  were  put 
upon  them,  and  the  germ  of  a  peculiar  quality  of  fiery  ardour 
was  distilled  into  their  bosoms,  to  be  unfolded  after  many  days. 
Soon  after  this,  there  wore  earthquakes  in  the  expanse  of  the 
Spiritual  World,  and  many  towns  and  cities  were  swallowed 
up,  and  their  places  supplied  by  open  waters.  The  internal 
expanses  within  the  minds  of  the  Scottish  people  will  next  be 
visited  in  the  same  way.  When  this  had  taken  place,  another 
change  began.  A  broad  frith  appeared,  separating  the 
Scotland  of  the  World  of  Spirits,  from  the  England  there. 
People  began  crying,  "  We  renounce,  we  renounce,''  and  were 
seen  by  thousands  with  their  hands  uplifted,  throwiug  back 


4G2  ABCANA    OF   CRRISTIANITT.  [chap.  iti. 

the  emanation  from  England  into  the  bosom  of  that  isle.  A 
war  then  comuicncoclj  and  vast  bodies  of  magnetic  substance, 
rolling  with  cloudy,  poisonous  vapours,  crossed  the  frith,  and 
began  to  benumb  and  stupefy  the  inhabitants.  Soon  afterward 
fortifications  were  seen  rising,  and  men  of  a  type  correspond- 
ing to  those  of  the  church  called  Philadelphia  were  visible, 
engaged  in  constructing  the  defences  according  to  that  mode 
by  which,  in  future  times,  the  new  crystallized  architecture  is 
to  be  fashioned  on  the  terrestrial  globe.  A  dissolution  of  the 
British  empire,  in  first  principles,  has  thus  begun. 

854.  Preliminary  to  those  experiences,  I  was  in  the  spirit  in 
a  large  city  in  the  lowest  of  the  Upper  Earths  of  Spii-its,  de- 
voted to  the  reception  of  CaMnists  who  retain  a  germ  of  good 
within  the  spirit,  and  are  capable  of  becoming  angelic.  The 
quarter  into  which  I  was  taken  was  inhabited  principally  by  the 
Scotch,  and  a  weird,  strong  race  indeed  they  seemed  to  be.  The 
frost  lay  upon  the  door-stone  of  every  dwelling,  and  the  ice  was 
in  the  pools  before  the  windows.  I  noticed  hardy  flowers 
growing,  resembling  chrysanthemums ;  now  and  then  a  spicy 
breath,  with  the  summer  in  it,  alternated  most  agreeably  with 
the  boreal  blasts,  and  I  perceived  these  to  come  from  a  great, 
high  mountain,  eastward  beyond  waters,  resting  upon  snow- 
covered  plains,  but  rising  through  temperate  zones  into  a 
tropic  world.  Near  me  the  frost  was  everywhere,  and  the  in- 
habitants, as  they  moved  to  and  fro,  exhibited  peculiar  diseases, 
the  result  of  cold.  I  noticed  an  inscription  upon  a  public 
building,  and  internally  road  it,  "  To  three-headed  Janus,^''  but 
a  passer  by,  whom  I  asked  to  read  it,  said,  that  it  was  to  the 
three  Gods  of  the  Trinity, — Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
This  stood  in  the  lowest  and  most  obscure  quarter.  "  YeTl 
think  over  much  of  Jesus  Christ,'^  said  the  man  to  whom  I  had 
spoken ;  continuing  in  broad  Scotch,  which  I  render  in  our  own 
tongue,  "Each  person  of  the  Trinity  demands  separate  worship; 
the  Father  for  creating,  the  Son  for  atoning,  and  the  Spirit  for 
sanctifying."  One  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  drew  nigh,  per- 
ceiving I  might  be  a  stranger,  and  gravely  assenting,  added, 
"  You  will  know  that  God  the  Father  is  a  jealous  God,  in 
covenant  with  the  elect."  I  replied,  "  Justice  and  mercy  are 
the  habitations  of  His  thi'one ;"  whereat  the  ancient  responded. 


SEC.  854—856.]  TSE  APOCALYFSU.  463 

"  Very  true,,  but  justice  required  tliat  all  sliould  be  damned, 
and  mercy  spared  such  as  were  to  be  spared."  He  then  wiped 
kis  horn-rimmed  spectacles,  and  asked  me  if  I  tliouglit  that 
summer  was  not  delayed  unseasonably  ? 

855.  At  this  moment  drew  nigh,  two  in  one,  moving-  in  a 
cloud  of  the  embodied  essences  of  flowers  which  diffused 
heliotrope,  jasmine,  and  the  rose,  an  angel  and  his  bride, 
Odorus  and  Odoretta  by  name  (for  particulars  concerning 
whom,  see  Children  of  Hymen).  "There  comes,^'  continued 
the  old  man,  "  a  white  snow-whirlwind,^^  His  teeth  chattered, 
and  he  shook  as  if  with  an  ague ;  but  I  opened  my  garment  at 
the  breast,  because  it  was  warm  to  me,  and  turning  a  little 
aside  was  involved  in  the  perfumed  an  1  tinted  sphere,  and  so 
wrapped  away.  In  beds,  frozen  marble-hard,  I  saw  a  preacher 
and  his  wife,  their  faces  turned  from  each  other.  Odorus 
touching  them  on  the  lips,  each  spoke  but  diversely,  the  voice 
seeming  to  proceed  from  opposite  quarters  of  the  room.  The 
clergyman  mistook  the  angel  for  an  infernal  vision,  and 
muttered,  "  Ye  tempters  depart ;  ye  know  tbat  Janet  was  my 
wife  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  resurrection  all  are  unmarried  crea- 
tures ;  therefore  she  waits  for  the  trumpet  with  her  face  to  one 
wall,  and  I  wait  with  my  face  to  the  other  wall ;  but  it's  cold, 
very  cold."  The  lovely  Odoretta,  with  beautiful  rapture  beaming 
in  her  eyes,  tenderly  imprinted  a  kiss  upon  her  consort's  lips, 
at  which  the  good  and  worthy  man  upon  his  wintry  couch 
groaned,  "  Surely  ye  are  uncanny." 

856.  Both,  two  in  one,  commenced  at  this  moment,  reading 
from  the  Word,  and  I  began  singing  a  conjugial  hymn,  for  the 
truths  inflowed  through  my  lips  to  a  lyric  inspiration ;  and 
still  the  reading  and  the  singing  made  one  accord.  Both 
listened  enchanted.  A  silver  dew  of  melody  began  to  fall 
through  the  atmosphere.  The  walls  of  the  chamber  wherein 
they  lay  grew  luminous  with  Biblical  inscriptions,  in  silver 
letters  appearing  on  a  golden  grouud ;  and  the  worthy  minis- 
ter of  the  Kirk  began  to  read  them,  slowly  and  with  difiiculty, 
through  numbed  lips.  The  angel  then  spake  to  him,  saying  : 
"Let  this  confirm  you  that  the  vision  is  of  tho  Lord;" 
giving  to  him  at  the  same  time  a  copy  of  tho  Word,  most 
exquisitely  tinted  and  embellished,  so  that  the  text  seemed  a 


4G1  ARCANA   OF  CHRISTIANITY.        [chap.  in. 

scries  of  starry  letters,  resplendent  witli  many  jewels  upon  a 
landscape  ground,  at  once  ricli  with  summer  and  gay  with 
spring.  He  took  it,  and  cried  with  astonishment :  "  Oh,  ])ut 
the  Word  is  very  holy  V  pressing  it  at  the  same  moment  to 
his  breast.  Then  opening  it,  he  exclaimed  tremulously, 
''  Surely  it  is  cold  enough  here  to  be  a  long  way  from  the  lake 
that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone ;  and  yon  young  man  could 
never  draw  the  Scriptures  from  his  bosom  if  he  came  out  of 
the  pit,  with  not  so  much  as  a  page  scorched  by  the  burning." 

857.  "  God's  Word  is  very  precious,"  he  continued  ;  ''  it  is 
comforting  to  think  that  ye  are  of  the  elect,  young  man ;" 
adding,  '''ye  might  liave  been  damned,  ye  know,  to  the  adora- 
ble justice  of  the  Father;  but  the  Son  interposed,  and  they  hold 
a  council,  which  resulted  in  the  Young  Man's  coming  down  to 
save  us."  I  saw  that  he  spoke  from  his  former  natural  thought, 
and  words  were  given  me  to  say,  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one;  he 
that  hath  seen  me,"  saith  our  Lord,  ''  hath  seen  the  Father." 
The  clergyman  at  this  responded,  "  Ye  are  wresting  Scripture 
to  your  own  destruction.  The  persons  in  the  adorable  Trinity 
are  three,  to  will  and  covenant,  else  there  could  be  no  cove- 
nant." At  this  his  teeth  began  to  chatter  with  cold,  and  a 
stony  torpor  stole  over  his  visage,  while  he  muttered  drowsily, 
''  We  saints  must  sleep  till  the  last,  trumpet  sounds."  His 
wife  meanwhile  lay  speechless  in  a  soft  rapture,  murmuring 
in  ber  beart  the  silent  words  of  prayer,  and  began  in  worship 
to  revive ;  for  women  put  off  the  Calviuistic  dogma  more 
rapidly  than  men,  being  born  affections. 

858.  By  this  time  the  husband  was  in  a  deep  torpor,  and 
th.e  dear  wife  turned  towards  him,  seeing,  as  she  did  so,  the 
Word  which  had  Mien  from  his  hands  shining  in  jewelled 
lustre  between  them.  Putting  forth  her  emaciated  arm,  she 
took  it,  and  Odorus  and  Odoretta  began  to  sing  in  unison,  as 
they  observed  the  act ;  while  a  sweet  cherub  voice  was  heard, 
calling,  ''  Mother,  my  own  mother."  The  good  old  lady  was 
startled ;  slow  tears  began  to  course  down  her  venerable  cheeks, 
and  the  Word  diffusing  a  mild  fragrance  began  to  warm  her 
faded  frozen  hands ;  while  the  angels  continued  to  sing  a  wel- 
come to  light  and  immortality.  A  lovely  maiden  at  this  mo- 
ment appeared,  in  airy  white.     The  young  May  is  not  more 


SEC.  857—859.]  THE   APOCALYPSE.  465 

beautiful.  Spring  blossoms  were  twined  tlirougli  her  abun- 
dant golden  tresses,  and  a  dove  and  a  niglitingale  seemed 
alternately  making  music  within  either  breast.  Gently  ap- 
proaching the  couch  on  the  side  where  the  old  lady  lay,  she 
whispered,  "  Eise,  mother,  in  our  Lord^s  name.^'  The  doctrinal 
spell  was,  however,  mighty  on  the  mind,  and  the  aged  woman 
answered,  "  Not  till  the  resurrection,  not  till  the  resurrection. 
Perhaps  you  will  know  when  it  is  expected."  "  E-ise,  mother, 
in  the  Lord's  name,  rise,''  was  the  maiden's  response.  But 
the  spell  continued,  and  again  the  answer  came,  yet  more 
softly  now,  "  I  cannot."  "  Then  let  me  aid  you,"  was  the  reply  ; 
and  reaching  out  her  hand,  strength  was  imparted  through 
it,  and  the  dear  old  mother  sat  up,  while  at  the  same  time  her 
features  began  to  change  a  little  from  their  stony  abstraction. 
''  Let  me  aid  you,"  still  continued  the  bright  spirit,  and  all  in 
white,  as  the  corpse  is  attired,  the  mother  stood  stark  up- 
right, the  old  man  moaning  and  muttering  uneasily  as  if  in  a 
troubled  dream. 

859.  At  this  moment  the  eastern  wall  became  trans- 
picuous, and  through  it  shone  a  rosy  light,  in  which  were 
inscriptions  in  the  Celestial  language,  formed  as  in  sunbeams. 
Gliding  to  the  other  side,  the  maiden  now  knelt,  and  with  the 
love-heat  of  the  bosom  sought  to  warm  this  venerable  parent ; 
and  we  heard  him  talking  as  if  two  minds  were  arguing  against 
each  other.  The  most  external  mind  whispered,  "  Six  and 
thirty  years  I  preached,  let  the  saints  sleep  till  the  resurrection." 
The  internal  mind,  in  a  soft,  infantile  voice  responded,  "  Jesus 
is  our  resurrection  and  our  life,  and  those  who  are  His  never 
die."  The  outer  mind  seemed  to  murmur  a  feeble  protest, 
and  now  more  clear  and  silvery  its  inner  partner  cried,  ''  The 
flesh  that  Jesus  lives  in,  is  quickened  by  His  presence."  The 
outer  mind  then  answered  still  more  feebly ;  and  joyously,  as 
if  triumphing  over  obstructions,  the  inner  spoke  again,  "  In 
those  in  whom  Christ  lives,  faith  working  by  love  should 
triumph.  Will  that  the  mountain  of  torpor  heaped  upon  the 
body  shall  fall,  and  it  shall  be  cast  into  the  sea  of  oblivion." 
The  old  man  had  faith,  and  rising  as  in  an  awful  vision,  cried, 
"  Begone  sleep,"  waking  at  the  same  instant  to  a  double  con- 
sciousness in  which  the  two  minds  were  at  one  ;  seeing  at  the 

G    G 


4.00  ABCANA    OF    CHUISTIANITT.        [cnAr.  iir. 

same  moment  tlie  angelic  spirit  kneeling  beside  liim^  and  re- 
cognising lier  as  a  dauglitcr. 

860.  We  became  invisible  at  this  moment,  but  still  gazed 
upon  the  scene.  The  daugliter  placing  lier  band  within  the 
folds  of  the  icy  robe  which  bound  the  awakened  man,  drew  out 
a  little,  glittering,  three-headed  viper ;  in  reality,  not  one  ser- 
pent, but  three,  bodily  interwoven  with  heads  and  tails  apart, 
holding  them  up  as  she  did  so,  and  saying,  "  Dear  father, 
what  are  these  ?  "  He  answered,  ''  Little  serpents."  She 
then  held  them  with  their  heads  downward,  and  they  revived, 
hissing.  She  crushed  them  beneath  her  feet.  He  then  per- 
ceived that  three  connected  cells  had  been  formed  within  his 
brain,  in  which  these  three  lodged.  Perception  was  given  at 
the  same  moment,  that  the  three  serpents  were  the  three 
falsities  that  he  had  cherished  and  preached  as  a  doctrine  of 
three  distinct  Gods,  not  three  hypostases  or  degrees  of  per- 
sonality, but  three  personalities,  each  a  separate  spirit.  He 
now  began  to  be  conscious  of  a  faint  rose  odour  about  him, 
and  kissed  the  dear  chikVs  hands,  through  which  the  perfume 
flowed,  many  times.  The  fragrance  revived  him  more,  and 
now  she  took  from  within  the  folds  of  his  garment  a  viperous 
creature,  whose  head  was  lifted  in  the  centre  of  its  numerous 
coils,  as  if  to  spring.  It  was  a  lurid. basilisk.  He  gazed  upon 
it  with  astonishment,  crying,  that  he  now  felt  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  reprobation  of  some  men  from  eternity,  and  the 
predetermined  election  of  others,  was  sliding  out  of  his  brain. 
She  crushed  this  also. 

861.  In  a  few  moments  he  heard  the  dove  and  the  nightin- 
gale warbling  responses  in  her  bosom.  Then  she  cried,  ''  Has 
my  dear  mother  done  aught  to  you  that  she  should  be  absent 
at  this  waking,  and  do  you  love  her  still  ?  Before  you  speak, 
let  me  draw  forth  this,  which  I  perceive  injuring  you."  Then, 
as  before,  she  drew  forth  a  swollen  asp,  and,  as  it  left  his  brain, 
the  idea  that  the  Lord  ever  taught  that  conjugial  relations  did 
not  exist  in  Heaven,  was  painfully  removed  away.  He  laid  his 
head  upon  his  daughter's  breast  and  wept,  but  they  were 
tender,  happy  tears.  At  the  bedside  now  appeared  silver 
cups  with  wine,  heavenly  bread,  and  a  rose-tinted  fruit ;  he 
looked  upon  them,  and  said.  "  I  thought  that  the  saints,  until 


SEC.  860—864.]  TRE   APOCALTPSK  467 

tlie  resurrection  of  tlie  flesli,  were  bodily  inanimate,  and  neither 
able  to  desire  food  or  enjoy  it."  She  answered,  ''  There  are 
spiritual  bodies,  dear  father,  and  our  Lord  provides  spiritual 
food.  God's  Word  is  greater  than  the  Assembly's  Catechism." 
His  good  wife  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been  listening ;  she 
threw  her  arms  around  his  neck,  and,  as  I  vanished  away,  they 
were  clasped  as  deathless  lovers  who  had  struggled  upward 
through  a  cold  and  dark  abyss  into  a  land  of  morning,  in  each 
other's  embrace. 


862.  "^  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,"  signifies  again,  the  earthly 
fantasy  of  some  among  the  Calvinists  that  the  Divine  treasures 
of  the  Gospel  are  capable  of  a  ti^itheistic  interpretation,  and 
that  they  are  wise  who  believe  thus.  It  also  applies  with  the 
same  significance  to  those  who  believe  that  they  possess 
heavenly  treasures,  in  the  belief  that  the  soul  is  bodiless  till 
the  general  resurrection,  and  also  that  there  is  no  conjugial 
love  in  Heaven,  and  no  inmost  heart-union  there. 


TWENTT-riEST  ILLUSTEATION. 

Punishment  inflicted  iipon  the  buyers,  sellers,  and  masters  of  slaves  in  the 
World  of  Spirits. — Divine  chastenings  there. — Regions  occupied  by 
spirits  who  were  of  the  Society  of  Friends. — ]\Iauifestations  in  their 
midst. — Also  a  Society  of  Moravians. 

863.  Upon  the  lowest  borders  of  the  lowest  of  the  upper 
Earths  of  Spirits,  is  a  flat,  marshy  region,  sultiy,  infested  with 
venomous  reptiles,  and  subject  to  pei^iodical  overflows.  The 
stagnant  water  is  covered  with  a  green  slime,  and  amphibious 
monsters  are  visible.  Nevertheless  it  is  inhabited  by  many 
who  on  Earth  esteemed  themselves  rich,  both  in  the  truths  of 
religion  and  material  possessions.  Those  who  have  conjoined 
to  their  avowed  Christian  faith  on  earth  the  doctrine  that 
God  ordains  the  African  race  to  be  hereditary  bondsmen  and 
bondswomen,  and  who  have  rigorously  exercised  such  privileges 
as  are  possessed  by  the  owners  of  human  property,  in  lands 
where  it  is  legalised,  congregate  in  this  and  a-  contiguous 
region  for  a  time  after  natural  decease. 

864.  It  is  respiration  that  determines  a  permanent  residence 

G  G  2 


4GS  ARCANA   OF  CREISTIANITT.        [chap.  tii. 

in  any  Society  of  tlio  Earth  of  Spirits^  or  of  tlie  Heavens  ;  but 
the  respiration  is  determined  by  the  quality  of  delight  which 
the  spirit  is  able  to  enjoy.  When  those  who  have,  from  a 
despotic  instinct  and  habit,  fixed  themselves  in  the  idea  that 
class  bondage  is  a  Divine  ordinance,  after  having  held  in  their 
hands  an  arbitrary  power,  enter  the  Spiritual  World,  though 
a  little  germ  of  good  is  quickened  within  them,  they  find  both 
the  social  order  and  the  Divine  truths  prevalent,  either  in  the 
Heavens  or  the  nobler  portions  of  the  Earths  of  Spirits,  very 
distasteful.  Treated  in  the  various  societies  with  a  gracious 
hospitality,  they  nevertheless  find  them  uncongenial,  respiring 
the  air  with  difficulty,  until  at  last,  led  by  attraction,  they  find 
themselves  verging  towards  the  marshy  region  just  described. 
Here  they  are  in  their  element,  and  breathe  freely,  declaring 
that  it  is  home.  They  generally  carry  into  the  Spiritual  World 
with  them  the  fantasy  that  dea^h  has  not  deprived  them  of 
opulence,  and,  retaining  the  earth-born  sentiments  and  pas- 
sions, desire  a  plantation  and  negroes ;  but  they  are  woefully 
disappointed.  No  one  of  this  type  is  ever  able,  after  crossing 
the  boundaries,  except  through  angelic  guidance,  to  retrace  his 
footsteps.  Wandering  about  for  a  time,  they  at  last  see  slave- 
pens,  and  in  the  distance  persons  who  resemble  coloured  over- 
seers ;  the  sounds  of  a  distant  industry  also  salute  their  ears. 
Reviving  at  this,  they  approach ;  but  the  overseer  whom  they 
meet,  instead  of  obsequiously  addressing  them,  sternly  de- 
mands, if  they  know  upon  whose  territory  they  have  trespassed. 
Wlien  they  state  that  they  do  not,  he  informs  them  that  it  is 
possessed  by  a  powerful,  wealthy,  negro  monarch,  who  holds  as 
slaves,  and  disposes  by  public  sale  to  such  as  visit  his  domi- 
nions, all  of  the  white  race  of  their  quality  who  cross  the 
boundaries. 

865.  I  saw  an  auction  of  white  men  and  women.  They 
were,  first,  a  professor  of  a  theological  school,  a  Presbyte- 
rian divine,,. and  a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  persuasion. 
Second,  three  statesmen;  a  bully,  who,  during  his  earthly 
life,  had  committed  a  historical  outrage  against  a  statesman 
of  opposite  opinions  to  his  own;  a  distinguished  jurist  of 
the  same  class ;  and  one  who  had  been  both  an  attorney 
and  a  judge.     In  the  third  lot  were  four  persons,  all  men,  fear- 


SEC.  865—867.]  THE    APOCALYFSU.  469 

fully  depraved  on  eartli,  wliose  employment  had  been  that  of 
professional  negro  traders.  With  them  was  another,  whom  I 
judged  to  be  in  a  salvable  condition,  from  the  remains  within 
him.  Those  in  the  fourth  group  were  elderly  women;  one  was 
pointed  out  as  having  been  exceedingly  tyrannical,  and  guilty  of 
murder  j  another  was  the  wife  of  a  cotton  planter,  also  noto- 
riously cruel.  These  seemed  prepared  internally  for  a  most 
infernal  fate.  A  young  woman  of  great  personal  beauty,  but 
haughty,  domineering,  and  imperious,  was  close  at  hand. 

8G6.  They  were  surrounded  by  guards  in  uniform,  who 
maintained  exact  discipline ;  this  uniform  was  blue  faced  with 
silver,  and  their  expression  that  of  great  firmness,  tempered 
with  generosity ;  they  were  perhaps  two  hundred  in  number. 
A  crier  made  proclamation  that  the  sale  was  to  take  place,  but 
that  if  any  of  them  could  show  that  on  earth  they  had  reve- 
renced the  manhood  and  the  womanhood  of  races  accounted 
servile,  and,  even  while  restraining  their  liberty,  respected  them 
as  immortals  of  an  equal  brotherhood  with  themselves,  an  escort 
was  provided  to  reconduct  them  to  their  own  kind.  Each, 
then,  by  a  peculiar  influx,  being  induced  to  speak  from  the 
dominant  mental  idea  and  sentiment,  declared  that,  so  far  from  it, 
they  had  a  divine  right  to  possess  human  property,  restrained 
by  the  civil  statutes  alone.  As  soon  as  they  had  declared  this, 
the  three  clergymen  were  required  to  step  forward.  First  upon 
the  auction  block  was  placed  the  theological  professor.  He 
requested  leave  to  make  a  protest,  and  offer  a  justification,  stat- 
ing that  he  was  a  consistent  Christian,  that  all  negroes  were 
the  descendants  of  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  and  as  a  race 
condemned  to  eternal  bondage,  in  these  words,  "  Cursed  be 
Canaan,  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren.''^ 
A  light  mulatto  then  stepped  forward  and  said,  "I  bar  the 
protest;  he  bought  me,  being  by  the  father^s  side  a  white 
man.-'''     It  was  adjudged  that  the  sale  should  proceed. 

867.  Now  appeared  two  classes  of  buyers,  one  ferocious  in 
their  aspect,  whom  I  recognized  to  be  negroes  from  the  lowest 
Earth  of  Spirits,  where  men  are  being  prepared  in  the  evolution 
of  their  most  internal  characters  to  become  demons.  The 
other  class  were  gentlemen  of  a  respectable  appearance,  whoso 
conduct  in  every  respect  was  unexceptionable ;  their  manners 


470  AECANA    OF   CUIilSTIANITY.  [crap.  hi. 

refined,  tlicir  speecli  courteous.  The  two  parties  kept  apart. 
The  biddiug-  began,  and  as  it  began  the  mind  of  the  professor 
was  explored,  to  see  if  he  had  any  genuine  love  to  God  and 
the  neighbour,  but  he  had  none.  His  professed  Christianity 
had  been  a  disguised  heathenism,  his  heart  hard,  and  the  spirit 
of  his  life  one  of  rindictiveness.  When  this  was  perceived, 
the  buyers  of  the  better  class  withdrew,  and  he  was  handed 
over,  being  internally  a  demon,  to  a  demoniacal  negro  in  the 
same  internal  spiritual  condition  with  himself. 

868.  The  Presbyterian  divine  followed  him ;  his  plea  was  the 
same  ;  but  a  mild,  blue-eyed  little  child  with  golden  ringlets, 
in  lisping  accents,  speaking  from  the  air  through  which  she 
glided  down,  declared  that  he  had  purchased  and  afterward 
inflicted  a  cruel  wrong  on  her  still  living^  mother.  This  he 
did  not  deny ;  the  explorations  of  his  internal  state  then  took 
place,  and  it  was  found  worse  than  that  of  the  former,  when,  as 
before,  a  negro  demon  purchased  him.  The  clergyman  of  the 
Episcopalian  persuasion  then  took  their  place,  and  I  thought  I 
perceived  a  certain  mildness  in  his  countenance.  He  made  no 
plea,  but  one  present  stated  that  he  had  preached  to  a  wealthy 
parish,  and  never  remonstrated  against  their  traffickings  in 
men.  At  first  his  fate  hung  as  it  seemed  in  almost  even  scales; 
there  were  two  contending  bidders,  gne  a  portly  gentleman  of 
clerical  appearance,  whom  his  companions  addressed  as  a 
divine,  and  who  evidently  was  of  the  cloth ;  the  other  a  swear- 
ing and  exceedingly  sinister-visaged  spunt,  who  stated  that 
he  wished  a  chaplain  to  preach  subordination  to  his  numerous 
force;  the  demon  bidder,  however,  retired.  The  purchaser 
addressed  him  in  these  words ;  "  I  trust  that  as  much  as  a 
single  seed-corn  of  good  life  is  in  you ;  I  have  become  a  formal 
possessor  of  your  person  as  an  act  of  kindness  ;  my  duty  will 
be  to  assign  such  employments  to  you  as  shall  instruct  you 
in  what  the  gospel  is,  while  at  the  same  time  they  afford  you 
an  opportunity  to  practise  it."     He  then  passed  from  sight. 

869.  The  first  lot  being  disposed  of,  the  planting  politician 
was  next  brought  forward.  On  his  brow  he  wore  a  livid  mark, 
to  denote  a  propensity  to  smite  and  slay;  he  evidently  had  been 
a  person  of  extreme  courtesy,  a  gentleman  by  education  and 
social  position.     The  sight  of  the  armed  force,  and  the  spec- 


SEC.  868—870.]  TRE  APOCALYPSE.  471 

tacle  of  tlie  preceding  sales  had  evidently  cowed  liim.  Looking 
about,  lie  cried  with  a  most  fearful  curse,  that  there  was  no 
God  in  the  universe,  else  He  would  never  permit  a  chivalrous 
and  refined  man  of  honour  to  be  sold  as  a  slave  to  slaves ;  but 
he  was  quietly  checked  for  blasphemy,  when  the  sale  went  on. 
He  was  not  hopeless,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  commander 
of  the  forces,  a  powerful,  determined,  soldierly  .person,  who 
smiled  aside,  and  then,  mentioning  the  name  which  he  had 
borne  on  earth,  was  recognised  at  once  by  his  possessor;  he 
was  led  into  the  rear. 

870.  A  tall,  slightly  stooping,  venerable  man,  in  whom  I 
recognised  the  deceased  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  now  ap- 
proached, and  with  an  easy  dignity  addressed  the  Episcopalian 
clergyman,  congratulating  him  on  the  opportunity  of  present- 
ing with  his  own  hands  an  occasional  cup  of  cold  water  to  one 
of  the  least  of  the  disciples ;  adding,  that  he  would  doubtless 
receive  instruction  in  the  Catechism  and  Creed.  The  object 
of  the  appearance  of  this  famous  orator  was  soon  made  known ; 
he  requested  permission  of  his  friends  to  visit  certain  cottages 
occupied  by  individuals  from  the  earth,  whom  they  had  pur- 
chased for  disciplinary  purposes,  in  quest  of  a  friend  of  his ; 
adding,  that  ho  wished  them  God  speed  in  the  sale,  which  was 
eminently  a  just  one.  Mr.  Clay  shortly  afterwards  made  his 
appearance,  bringing  with  him  the  person  of  whom  he  was  in 
search,  and  the  two  stood  contemplating  the  sight ;  the  one  in 
inild  complaisance,  and  the  other  half  in  shame,  as  remember- 
ing that  on  Earth  he  had  been  a  seller,  and  here  sold.  "  How 
benignant  and  how  just,^^  the  Western  orator  remarked,  "  is 
the  sight  which  here  we  contemplate  !  What  surprising 
equity  administers  the  requirements  of  justice  !  What  charity 
sits  above,  benignantly  smiling  !  Here  many  who  teach  on 
earth  may  be  taught  themselves.  I  thank  God  for  this  insti- 
tution :  the  cure  of  slavery  is  slavery ;  the  man  wlio  lusts  to 
rivet  on  his  fellows  a  degrading  chain  here  falls  into  the  grasp 
of  that  Power  which  soon  convinces  him,  if  a  spark  of  good 
lingers  in  his  breast,  how  odious  was  the  mean  passion  that  he 
made  his  friend.  I  see  a  reputable  professor  whom  a  debased 
negro  has  bought ;  they  will  together  unfold  the  base  hate 
which  grounds  itself  in  their  most  secret  natures.     The  links 


472  ABCANA   OF  CnRISTIANITY.        [cixxv.  iir. 

of  tlie  same  vassalage,  forged  witli  their  own  hands,  chain 
them  to  the  same  chariot  wheels  of  the  one  in  their  society, 
who  is  at  once  the  most  execrable  of  tyrants  and  abased  of 
slaves.  Mark  the  benignant  features  of  the  charitable  pur- 
chasers, who  condescend,  in  pity  on  their  formerly  enslaving 
brethren  of  the  wliiter  skin,  to  burden  themselves  with  such 
unprofitable  servants  as  they  for  a  time  must  prove.  What 
humanity  reigns  in  their  affections  !  I  could  wish  that  I  was 
one  of  them,  to  aid  in  the  rescue  of  my  own  species  from  their 
anti-democratic  sentiments,  and  most  anti- Christian  proclivi- 
ties :  it  is  good  to  be  here.'''' 

871.  Soon  after  this  the  sale  weiit  on,  but  its  particulars  I 
omit.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  those  capable  of  being  reformed 
and  saved  were  adjudged  to  the  good,  and  those  fixed  in 
wrong-doing  to  the  evil.  When  the  demons  had  receded  with 
their  spoil,  the  white  captives,  whom  these  kind  persons  had 
burdened  themselves  with,  were  conducted  by  their  respective 
masters  to  their  various  estates,  some  of  which  I  visited.  I 
saw  on  one  sugar  planters  and  overseers  cultivating  the  sugar 
cane.  On  another,  those  who  had  been  engaged,  on  a  large 
scale,  in  the  growth  of  cotton,  laboriously  engaged  in  its 
culture ;  while  opulent  and  distinguished  persons,  who  had 
possessed  great  estates  for  the  production  of  rice,  were  follow- 
ing that  peculiar  pursuit.  Indolent  and  fashionable  ladies, 
who  had  once  presided  over  splendid  mansions,  were  engaged 
in  menial  offices,  such  as  they  had  in  the  body  exacted  from 
others.  The  ladies  whom  they  served  were  assiduous  in  at- 
tempting to  instruct  them  in  the  heart-truths  of  God^s  neglected 
Word.  Punishments  of  a  severe  character  there  were  none, 
for  either  men  or  women ;  if  the  males  loitered,  purloined, 
used  impure  or  profane  language,  or  sought  to  maltreat  each 
other,  which  some  at  first  were  apt  to  do,  as  the  old  earth 
evils  broke  forth  afresh,  the  discipline  to  which  they  were 
subjected  seemed  to  consist  in  a  difficulty  of  breathing  which 
fell  upon  them,  when  invariably  they  began  to  recede  toward 
the  Hells,  and  to  plunge  themselves  in  fetid  marshes ;'  this 
they  call  running  away.  No  notice  was  taken  of  it  when  again 
they  were  brought  to  the  firm  sliore,  except  that  they  were 
gravely    admonished   of    the    sin   which    such    consequences 


SEC.  871—873.]  THE   APOCALTPSK  473 

followed.  I  was  informed  tliat  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  in- 
duce liabits  of  self-government  on  many  wlio  liad  been  brouo-ht 
up  to  an  indolent  lady  life,  but  that  with  great  patience  and 
assiduity  their  faults  gradually  disappeared. 

872.  I  was  present  in  the  spirit  on  a  certain  plantation.  Its 
force  consisted  of  about  two  hundred,  who  had  been  planters, 
overseers,  and  agents,  in  the  natural  life.  After  the  day^s 
labours  were  at  an  end,  a  chapel  was  opened  for  services,  and 
their  proprietor  delivered  a  discourse  on  slavery  and  freedom, 
for  their  edification,  in  which  the  following  propositions  were 
adduced :  first,  that  the  culture  of  the  particular  product  in 
which  they  were  engaged  continually  reminded  them  of  the 
errors,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice,  to  which  they  had  been 
addicted  in  the  body ;  second,  that  enforced  industry  was  neces- 
sary, because  the  only  cure  for  the  self-indulgences  of  which 
the  habit  remained ;  third,  that  their  ownership,  by  the  good  of 
the  colour  which  had  been  so  much  despised  on  Earth,  was  for 
the  purpose  of  convincing  them  that  the  living  God  dwelt  in 
the  negro  spirit ;  and  through  it,  as  an  instrument,  led  them 
from  the  slavery  of  false  persuasions  and  practices  into  the 
true  liberty  of  joyful  and  willing  obedience  to  Himself.  The 
coloured  gentleman  concluded  in  these  words,  "  I  wish  you 
to  understand,  dear  friends,  I  do  not  own  you;  I  abhor  the 
doctrine  that,  except  as  a  means  of  restraining  men  from  evil 
habits,  and  of  preparing  them  for  divine  freedom,  any  spirit 
has  coercive  rights  over  another.  I  exercise  these  rights 
simply  as  the  Father's  son,  who  thus  would  serve  his 
brethren.'' 

873.  After  this  I  beheld  a  spectacle  of  exceeding  interest. 
A  quadi'oon  gentleman  introduced  me  to  one  of  the  most  lovely 
females  I  ever  beheld,  and  said  she  came  from  a  southern  city. 
Her  father,  no  ignoble  person,  neglected  to  manumit  her  by 
a  provision  to  that  efi'ect.  She  passed  into  the  possession  of 
her  own  brother,  now  in  Hell,  and  a  most  flagitious  demon. 
Of  the  forced  wrongs  perpetrated  upon  her  shrinking  spirit, 
let  the  memory  be  forgotten.  He  sold  her,  knowing  that  he 
trafficked  in  his  own  blood.  She  bleeds  and  pants  now  in  mind, 
at  the  bare  recollection  of  worse  than  menial  horrors  under 
which  she  died.     She  keeps  her  father,  because  deeply  buried 


47  i  ABC  ANA    OF   CIIBISTIANITY.  [chap.  in. 

in  liis  bosom  is  the  smallest  of  seeds  of  life  possible  to  spring 
up  ;  but  lie  is  the  most  seemingly  incorrigible  of  men,  receding 
often  toward  the  Hells,  and  plunging  himself  in  foul  morasses, 
whence  he  is  extricated  with  difficulty.  She  is  now  the  sole 
means  of  calling  forth  that  little  germ,  and  visits  him, 
though  with  extreme  anguish  to  herself,  in  the  remote  cottage 
where  he  lives  apart. 


874.  I  was  taken  after  these  things  into  a  town  occupied 
by  spirits,  who  on  earth  had  been  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  It  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  bog  on  tremulous 
ground,  quaking  at  every  step.  Great  apparent  friendliness 
characterized  the  many  whom  I  saw,  and  everything  indicated 
a  most  peaceable  external  profession.  "These,^^  said  an 
angel  who  was  with  me,  "  are  the  smoothest  of  equivocators 
by  practice."  The  bog. itself  is  over  the  dividing  line,  to  the 
left,  and  so  nearer  to  the  Hells  than  to  the  Heavens.  One 
accosted  me  with  "  Friend,  dost  thou  desire  to  dispose  of 
aught  ?  If  not,  is  there  aught  that  I  can  supply  thee  V  I 
answered,  "  ^o."  I  perceived  that  he  was  a  trading  spirit  and 
intent  only  on  gain.  Another  informed  me,  as  by  some  com- 
pulsion working  in  him,  that  he  had  just  negotiated  a  marriage 
between  his  daughter  and  the  son  of  the  richest  friend  in  that 
vicinity.  Another,  that  he  had  discovered  a  method  by  which 
to  induce  commercial  panics,  so  that,  mortgages  being  then 
foreclosed^  vast  possessions  might  be  accumulated  at  little 
outlay.  But  the  peculiarity  of  all  was,  that,  except  when 
speaking  under  internal  compulsion,  language  was  a  thing  so 
flexible  in  their  hands,  as  to  serve  as  the  agent  of  universal 
double  dealing  and  trickery.  A  sad  falling-off  of  the  primitive 
inspirations  under  which  the  Society  of  Friends  took  its  rise  ! 

875.  That  nature  is  the  only  God,  and  that  the  secret  soul 
may  be  inspired  from  nature,  I  found  their  secret  faith.  Some 
spoke  reverentially  of  our  Lord,  as  the  elder  brother,  and  a 
medium  for  nature  in  times  gone  by.  They  soon  grow  weary 
of  their  bog  and  its  insecure  foundations ;  beginning  to  put 
forth  in  action  visibly  the  secret  lusts  that  characterized  them 
in  life  :  some  are  possessed  by  swearing  devils ;  others  become 


SEC.  874— S77.]  THE  APOCALTFSE.  475 

pugilistic;  andj  wlien  the  nature  begins  to  be  set  free^  it 
avenges  itself  by  gross  improprieties  for  the  conventional  habits 
induced  on  it  in  our  world.  The  god  whom  they  worship 
now  is  gain^  and  this  with  a  zest  that  is  truly  frightful.  Rob- 
beries are  frequent  among  them^  because  in  its  essence  the 
love  of  gain  in  an  unregenerate  man  is  a  desire  to  appropriate 
the  goods  of  others.  They  overreach  each  other  by  buying 
and  sellings  but  very  soon  the  impoverished  ones  begin  to 
purloin,  retaking  by  force  what  was  filched  from  them  by  art. 
I  saw  their  meeting-house^  plainly  furnished,  but  a  winding 
way  led  from  it  into  Hell.  The  Word  was  not  in  it.  There 
was  a  yearly  meeting  held,  but  it  broke  up  in  great  confusion, 
as  the  ripened  lusts  of  the  elders  burst  forth  during  the 
gathering. 

876.  After  this,  and  with  similar  pain  to  myself,  I  visited  a 
Moravian  settlement,  but  they  were  backsliders  from  the  pure 
fraternal  practices  of  the  early  United  Brethren.  Their  pro- 
fession is  a  seeming,  belied  by  the  secret  infidelity  of  the 
corrupt  heart.  These  illustrations  are  adduced  as  containing 
further  descriptions  of  the  internal  state  of  individuals  in  Chris- 
tian sects  and  countries,  opalent  on  Earth,  both  socially  and 
doctrinally,  but  whose  wealth  is  a  fiction  in  the  sight  of  God. 


877.  "Increased  with  goods,"  signifies,  a  class  who  pride 
themselves  upon  having  a  nobler  morale  than  their  fellow-men, 
but  who  covet  entirely  the  wealth  and  station  of  the  world,  and 
seek,  through  exquisite  propriety  in  social  life,  and  punctilious 
attention  to  the  highest  business  requirements,  to  outvie  in 
splendour  and  dignity  the  Dorias,  the  Medicis,  and  other  mer- 
chant princes.  It  applies  with  especial  force  to  the  opulent 
Pharisees,  distinguished  by  allegiance  to  doctrinal  creeds. 


TWEN"TT-SECOND  ILLUSTRATION. 

Interview  with  a  wandering  spirit,  an  American  Calvinist.— His  fantasies 
concerning  riches,  imputed  righteousness,  and  an  immediate  Heaven. — 
Also  an  American  divine  of  the  same  persuasion. — His  bewilderment, 
disappointment,  and  tribulation.— Tlio  l^ing  of  Naples  in  the  Spiritual 


476  ARCANA    OF   CnRTSTIANITY.  [chap.  hi. 

World. — His  terrible  condition. — The  first  duke  and  duchess  of  Marl- 
borough.— Their  deplorable  state. — Catherine  de  Medici  and  other 
demons. 

878.  I  saw  a  wandering  spirit  of  the  milder  sort^  haunting 
retired  places  in  a  great  city,  where  lie  had  acquired  immense 
estates  through  commerce ;  one  who  had  been  foremost  in  many- 
sectarian  institutions.  His  money  was  still  his  secret  anxiety. 
I  met  him  carrying,  as  to  its  appearance,  a  heavy  bag  of  coin, 
which  he  hugged  near  his  heart  as  mothers  do  their  infants. 
I  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  with  it,  and  he  replied, 
"  Carrying  it  to  Heaven,  having  slipped  out  of  the  body,  but, 
thank  God,  with  my  estate  •/'  showing  me  at  the  same  time 
what  seemed  to  him  coupons,  title  deeds,  and  various  securi- 
ties. Thereat  I  felt  moved  to  say,  "  The  earth  is  the  Lord^s 
and  the  fulness  thereof;  and  no  man  can  be  a  full  Christian 
and  have  any  other  desire  than  that  the  Lord  should  do  with 
His  own  according  to  His  perfect  will.'^  The  merchant  replied 
that  he  did  not  thus  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  that  the 
apostle  sent  back  the  slave  Onesimus  to  Philemon,  thereby 
recognizing  that  one  might  lawfully  owu  another  with  no 
detriment  to  faith  or  hindrance  to  salvation.  More  he  added 
about  my  doctrine  being  revolutionary,  and  then  asked  me  if 
I  was  not  an  abolitionist ;  when  I  ajiswered,  that  I  would  to 
God  his  cupidity  might  be  abolished.  He  informed  me  after- 
ward, that  his  funeral  eulogies  had  been  very  consoling,  and 
that  he  did  not  know  how  good  he  had  been,  and  what  an 
exemplar  to  others,  to  the  full  extent,  until  he  listened  to  some 
who  were  reading  his  obituaries.  As  the  conversation  was 
going  on,  a  puff  of  air  swept  away  at  once  the  weighty 
magnetic  mass,  which  he  supposed  to  be  his  beloved  gold, 
while  the  paper  securities  became  smoke ;  he  saw  it,  and  at 
the  same  time  sighed  deeply,  when  a  hyj)ocritical  demon 
appeared  at  his  left  hand,  robed  as  an  angel,  and  pronouncing 
the  words,  "  Welcome,  servant  of  the  Lord,  I  am  sent  to  con- 
duct you  to  His  presence/^  At  this  a  glorious  man  and  true 
angel  stood  at  his  right  hand,  and  one  said  to  me,  "  Ask  him  to 
discriminate. ■'' 

879.  I  said,  "  My  brother,  may  I  ask  which  of  these  is  from 
the  Lord,  the  one   at  your  right  hand,  or  the  other  at  the 


SEC.  878—879.]         TRE   APOCALYFSH.  477 

left?^'  He  answered,  '^  Both  are.'"  I  saidj  ^'Tliat  cannot  be,  for 
tliey  stand  in  attitudes  of  fixed  hostility,  the  angel  being  sent 
to  counteract  some  sorcery  of  the  fiend.^^  He  drew  out  of  his 
pocket  the  Presbyterian  confession  of  faith,  and  gravely  began 
to  catechise  the  fiend,  who  responded  to  all  its  articles,  adding 
that  he  delighted  to  find  that  in  these  days,  when  so  many 
were  running  after  new-fangled  heresies,  the  Lord  still  had 
a  people  and  a  seed.  What,  the  demon  added,  he  had  espe- 
cially delighted  in,  was  the  brother's  sound  remark  about  the 
case  of  Onesimus.  It  was  put  into  my  heart  to  ask  him  if 
he  loved  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  answered,  "  Blessed  be 
His  name,  I  do.''  "Yes,"  responded  the  demon,  "he  does. 
Souls  in  glory  prove  that,  whom  his  contributions  to  the  spread 
of  the  gospel  have  rescued  from  eternal  perdition ;  I  soon  de- 
sign to  show  him  several  whom  instrumentally  he  has  saved 
from  the  adversary."  Smiling  complacently,  the  wandering 
spirit  thus  flattered  was  inclining  toward  the  fiend,  when  the 
angel  cried,  "Hold,  and  be  instructed."  Tmming  to  the  demon 
in  a  mild,  firm  voice,  he  said,  "  Speak  under  compulsion,  and 
no  longer  feign  to  be  what  you  are  not."  Writhing,  as  if  im- 
paled, the  evil  one  answered  slowly,  one  by  one  pronouncing 
the  words,  "  I  am  a  lost  spirit  of  the  Hell  of  those  who  delight 
in  making  the  Gospel  odious."  "Answer  truly,"  continued  the 
angel,  "to  what  end  have  you  sought  this  man  ?"  "  To  obsess 
him,"  was  the  reply,  "  and  make  use  of  the  nerve  spirit  ^vith 
which  he  is  clad,  as  a  means  of  ready  access  to  men  and 
women  in  the  flesh."  "  Do  you  love  him  ?"  the  angel  asked; 
"  I  hate  him,"  answered  the  fiend.  "  Can  your  hate  ever 
become  love  ?"  said  the  angel.  "Never,"  was  the  demon's 
response.  The  wandering  spirit  now  saw,  to  his  surprise,  that 
the  mimic  angel  was  rapidly  becoming  visibly  a  human  monster. 
The  angel  then  addressed  him  with,  "  Come,  dear  friend,  you 
are  now  in  a  world  where  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  must  be 
brought  to  judgment."  "I  plead  the  imputed  righteousness  of 
my  Saviour,"  was  the  answer;  to  which  the  angel  said,  "If  any 
hath  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  His.  Come  where 
your  evils  of  life  will  be  explored,  and  the  inmost  germ  of  good 
within  you,  if  such  remains^  be  called  forth  to  strength  and 
victory." 


478  ABCANA    OF   GHEISTIANITY.  [chap.  hi. 

880.  At  tliis  rude  outrag'c  on  clierisTied  convictions,  tlio 
spirit  drew  back  with,  "AVliat,  is  there  no  immediate  Heaven?'^ 
The  answer  was,  "  When  you  are  prepared  for  Heaven  you 
will  enter  it,  not  before ;  but  avarice  must  be  conquered,  and 
pride.  See,  there  is  the  path,  there  are  none  to  hinder  you  : 
walk  in  it  ! "  At  this  opened  a  splendid  vista  ;  paradisiacal 
shrubs  and  trees  on  either  side  diffused  delicious  frag-rance,  and 
the  song  of  birds  was  heard  commingled  with  the  flow  of  cool 
waters.  "  Let  me  go  to  Heaven,  let  me  go  to  Heaven,"  cried 
the  spirit.  But  now  once  again  the  vanished  simulation  of  his 
golden  treasure  appeared ;  he  essayed  to  lift  it,  but  it  became 
so  heavy  that  he  was  unable,  and  remained  anchored  to  it,  as 
a  ship  is  secured  by  a  cable.  In  a  great  city  this  occurred ; 
multitudes  passed  by  gay  with  the  adornments  of  fashion, 
decorously  to  observe  the  semblances  of  worship  in  the  temples 
of  their  respective  creeds ;  but  one,  not  the  least  of  their 
numbei',  anchored  to  the  very  semblance  of  his  wealth,  felt  their 
very  breath  as  they  passed  him  with  smiling  unconcern.  Such 
things  may  be  seen  in  cities,  wherever  the  fantasy  of  an  imme- 
diate Heaven  for  men,  in  whom  perchance  regeneration  is 
begun  as  the  smallest  of  seeds,  is  put  forth  as  a  dogma  of  the 
churches. 

881.  This  was  one  of  a  class  who  are  called  in  their  fantasy 
''  in  need  of  nothing."  A  divine  of  the  same  persuasion,  only 
deceased  within  the  last  few  months,  also  a  wandering  spirit, 
met  me,  clothed  in  rags,  an  emaciated  object,  at  the  very  door 
of  the  magnificent  edifice  in  which  while  in  the  body  his 
ministrations  of  the  gospel  had  pleased  a  highly  placed,  opulent 
congregation ;  and  he  heard  them,  as  they  passed  and  re-passed, 
declaring  that  the  pastor  who  had  gone  was  enjoying  the 
beatitudes.  He  turned  to  me,  and  said,  "  I  am  very  poor ;  the 
worms  of  the  grave  are  in  my  body,  but  my  soul  is  torn  as 
if  with  burning  pincers;  I  can  find  no  Heaven;  it  is  cold; 
where  am  I,  and  what  is  this  ?  "  His  eyes  were  opened  at  this 
instant  to  behold  an  angel,  hitherto  invisible,  and  the  loving 
friend  said,  calling  him  by  name,  "  The  thing  you  mocked  is 
come  upon  you."  ''  Oh,"  said  the  spirit,  "  that  I  could  return 
into  that  pulpit  once  more  :  I  would  unfold  a  tale."  The  solemn 
answer  was,  "  Though  you  were  to  return,  such  is  the  state, 


SEC.  880—882.]         TRE   APOCALTPSE.  479 

that  through  j^our  ministrations  is  induced,  that  not  one 
would  give  credence,  but  would  call  it  an  illusion/^  Self-con- 
demned, he  hung  his  head  till  the  angel  mildly  spoke,  "Let  the 
past  suffice  to  have  wrought  the  will  of  the  Gentiles.  Are  you 
willing  to  begin  as  a  learner,  since  you  are  now  convinced  of 
the  ignorance  in  which  you  taught  ?  "  He  bowed  his  head ; 
then  the  angel  led  him  away,  divesting  him  first  of  the  mag- 
netic body  through  which  he  had  clung  to  the  former  scenes. 
He  is  one  to  whom  the  words  apply,  "  And  knowest  not  that 
thou  art  wi'etched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked.^^ 


882.  " Miserable  ^^  has  other  significations;  one  only  is 
advanced.  In  a  hut,  like  a  cabin  of  some  most  squalid  savage, 
squatting  upon  his  haunches,  with  long  elf  locks  hanging  about 
the  shoulders,  and  with  a  tattered  mantle  rudely  wraiaped  about 
him,  sat  one  known  on  Earth  as  king  of  Naples.  He  was 
gnawing  a  bone.  "  This,^^  said  an  angel,  "  is  but  the  surface  of 
the  man^s  condition ;  look  within.'''  Opposite  to  him  in  the  hut 
was  a  creature,  whom  I  could  only  describe  as  being  a  woman  to 
the  waist,  and  below  a  glittering  serpent.  Her  voice  was  honey 
for  outward  sweetness,  but  perdition  as  to  its  essence.  She  sang 
to  him  an  Italian  canzonette,  at  which  he  threw  his  arms  around 
her  neck  with  horrible  endearments.  Then  she  called  him 
"fool "  and  "dupe,"  and  gave  him  over  to  six  paramours,  who 
came  forth  from  a  lui'id,  subterranean  den,  when  his  whole 
body  began  to  revolve  as  if  it  were  broken  on  a  wheel.  The  ex- 
planation of  the  scene  is  this.  The  secret  harpy  who  inspired 
his  deeds  and  led  him,  by  his  own  consent,  to  outrages  on  the 
liberties  of  man,  being  the  only  person  who  could  fully  be 
conjoined  with  him,  they  were  drawn  together  after  the  decease 
of  his  body.  He  entered  the  Spiritual  World,  at  first,  with  all 
the  Bourbon  pride,  nursed  by  the  habits  of  terrestrial  kingship ; 
but  gradually  casting  this  off,  the  squalid,  toad-like  demon, 
his  real  self,  revealed  its  ghastly  presence ;  when,  loathing  in 
the  fierceness  of  disgust,  the  harlot  threw  him  away  to  her 
former  lovers.  He  is  at  the  present  time  most  rapidly  sinking 
into  Hell. 


480  ABCAN-A    OF   CIIRISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 

883.  I  met  in  tlic  lowest  Earth  of  Spirits  a  suicide  distin- 
guislied  for  crimes  against  freedom,  during  a  most  eminent 
diplomatic  career  on  Earth.  With  him,  but  below  him,  be- 
cause they  are  fixed  in  demonhood,  two  appeared,  whom  history 
records  as  John  Churchill,  the  first  duke  of  Marlborough,  and 
Sarah  Jennings  his  wife.  I  do  not  think  it  is  possible  for  the 
most  graphic  artist  to  embody  the  battle  horrors  in  which  the 
renowned  captain  tosses  from  blood-dream  to  blood-dream, 
while  the  lust  of  gold  is  in  him  like  a  fathomless  raging  fire. 
He  is  bm'ued  out  in  the  most  fertile  resources  of  a  once  great 
mind,  and  resembles  subjectively  a  half-hollow  volcano,  which 
his  wife  as  a  possessing  demon  enters,  moving  him  forth  to 
execute  the  diabolisms  which  she  plans.  They  are  lost  so 
utterly  that  it  is  beyond  imagination.  Here  honours  and  great 
fortunes  are  seen  to  linger  in  the  memories  of  their  former 
possessors  but  to  enhance  the  horrors  of  their  state.  God^s 
judgments  are  slow  but  just.  These  represent  a  class  of 
spirits  called  '^poor." 


884.  I  saw  a  pool  of  fermenting  slime,  and  in  it  a  human- 
headed  eel,  utterly  eyeless,  the  sockets  themselves  having  dis- 
appeared, and  a  blank  surface  only  remaining  in  their  place.  I 
recognised,  by  the  Lord's  gift,  that  I  here  beheld  that  sagacious 
and  subtle  intellect  who  superintended  the  system  of  espionage 
which  served  the  ends  of  the  great  monarch  of  an  aggressive 
continental  nation,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
I  afterward  saw  him  more  in  the  likeness  of  a  man,  though  a 
man-demon,  in  company  with  harlots.  He  was  one  of  those 
here  called  "blind.''  But  the  worst  sight  follows.  A  woman 
known  in  history  as  Catherine  de  Medicis,  but  who  is  lost, 
flung  herself  up  naked  from  the  midst  of  a  cloud  of  whirling 
vapour,  followed  by  a  train  of  others,  while  upon  the  surfaces 
of  their  bodies,  picture  after  picture,  the  deeds  committed  in 
the  flesh  were  visible  upon  a  ground  of  white  death.  The  evil 
passions  nourished  in  the  bosom,  of  a  grey,  ghastly  white,  flew 
forth,  hoarsely  screaming  and  gyrating  above  their  heads,  but 
soon  returning  to  inhabit  their  vitals. 

885.  Lord  Jesus,  Thou  faithful  and  true  Witness,  by  Thy 


SEC.  883—888.]  TEE   APOCALYPSE.  481 

inward  voice  confirm  we  beseecli  Thee  Thy  own  truth  to  those 
who  shall  read  these  pages  with  intent  to  profit  thereby,  with 
knowledge  unto  godliness  in  true  holiness,  and  so  unto  eternal 
life.    Amen. 

Chap.  hi.  18. — '^I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in 

THE  FIRE,  THAT  THOU  MAYEST  BE  RICH  ;  AND  WHITE  RAIMENT, 
THAT  THOU  MAYEST  BE  CLOTHED,  AND  THAT  THE  SHAME  OP 
THY  NAKEDNESS  DO  NOT  APPEAR  j  AND  ANOINT  THINE  EYES 
WITH   EYE-SALVE,    THAT    THOU   MAYEST    SEE.''' 

886.  When  the  man  of  the  type  specified  in  the  Laodicean 
Church  has  entered  into  the  new  state  which  follows  the  de- 
struction and  removal  of  the  body  of  the  nerve-essence  and 
natural  soul,  the  breathing  divides  itself,  and  there  is  one  con- 
scious respiration  through  the  right  lung,  and  separate  from 
it  a  conscious  respiration  through  the  left  lung,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  vision  becomes  divided,  so  that  the  sight,  by 
separate  processes,  mirrors  celestial  and  spiritual  things.  Then 
the  man  sits  through  the  respirations  of  the  left  lung  with 
spiritual  angels,  and  through  the  respirations  of  the  right  lung 
with  celestial  angels,  and  is  at  once,  by  his  states,  in  both 
•Heavens.    "Gold  tried  in  the  fire,"  denotes  this  new  condition. 

887.  "I  counsel,^^  signifies,  divine  knowledges  then  first 
made  known  from  the  Lord.  ''^To  buy,-*^  signifies,  that  now 
the  new  man  begins  to  have  commerce  with  the  harmonic  men 
of  various  earths  with  whom  he  is  in  connection,  through  the 
world-souls,  imparting  to  them  the  infinitesimal  organic  forms 
within  his  own  new  nerve  spirit,  which  serves  as  the  grand  de- 
pository of  the  embodied  products  of  the  will  and  the  under- 
standing; receiving  in  return  treasures  ultimated  through 
them,  before  unknown. 

888.  "  Of  me,"  signifies,  that  this  commerce  is  entirely  of 
the  Lord.  It  is  thus  that  equilibrium  is  kept  up  between  the 
universal  earths.  The  communion  becomes  very  sweet;  the 
pillar-men  upon  the  diSerent  orbs  move  in  one  harmony  of 
divided  but  inflowing  breaths,  and  those  who  are  least  in  the 
series  are  strengthened  in  the  unanimity  of  all.  The  signifi- 
cancy  of  "  gold  tried  in  the  fire,"  is,  that  no  substance  is  trans- 
mitted from  one  nerve-essence  to  another,  until  it  is  of  the 

H   H 


4S2  ARCANA    OF   CRBISTIANITT.         [chap.  hi. 

quality  of  perfect  purity.  This  will  supercede,  in  time,  tlie 
poisonous  circulations  which  now  connect  individuals  in  whom 
the  chain  of  magnetic  sympathy  exists.  The  signification  of 
"  white  garments  "  is  a  sixth  province,  (for  particulars  of  which 
see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  651),  which  begins  to  be  extended  in  the 
aromal  spaces  occupied  by  the  man.  The  infinitesimal  forms 
of  the  afiections  heretofore  nourished  within  the  breast  be- 
come, in  their  coherent  unity,  larger  forms,  representing  the 
new  types  of  paradisiacal  animate  and  floral,  as  also  mineral 
structures.  It  is  beautiful  to  behold,  with  aromal  visiou,  the 
undulating  atmosphere  in  which  he  moves;  for  the  graces  seem 
to  have  crowned,  and  the  seasons  to  have  invested  him.  No 
art  on  earth  has  pictured  such  magnificence.  "That  thou 
mayest  be  clothed,"  signifies,  that  he  is  now  invested  with  the 
outer  degree  of  those  organized  entities,  which  first  become  the 
possession  of  the  angel  upon  his  initiation  into  the  Heavens. 
(see  A.  of  C.  1,  I.  621).  "That  the  shame  of  thy  nakedness 
do  not  appear,"  signifies,  that  henceforth  the  denuded  state, 
which  is  the  consequence  of  the  fall,  with  all  its  shames  and 
mortifications,  passes  away.  "^  And  anoint  thine  eyes  with  eye- 
salve,''^  signifies,  breathing,  opened  through  the  series  of  micro- 
scopic lungs,  in  and  through  which  the  functions  of  the  visual 
orbs  are  carried  on.  The  man  is  now  conscious  of  the  balms 
and  odoui'S  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  distilling  through  the  crystal- 
line humour,  and  the  precious  fragrances  flow  down  his  cheeks, 
imparting  bloom,  and  distil  themselves  in  aromas,  from  the 
beard  to  the  garments,  while  the  fragrances  of  Heaven  include 
the  sentient  frame.  "  That  thou  mayest  see,"  signifies,  sight 
opened  in  the  new  visual  respiration.  What  this  sight  is  will 
be  seen  elsewhere. 

Chap.  hi.  19. — "As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten  : 

BE    ZEALOUS   THEREPOKE,   AND   REPENT." 

889.  This  is  an  address  to  the  whole  world,  exhorting 
Christian  and  Gentile  nations,  when  the  judgments  that  attend 
the  utter  ruin  of  subversive  civilization  begin  to  fall,  to  profit 
by  the  omens  in  the  breast,  many  of  which  are  specified 
throughout  the  volume.  "As  many  as  I  love,"  signifies,  all 
mankind.     "  Rebuke  and  chasten,"  signifies,  outpourings  and 


SEC.  889—890.]         THE   AFOCALYPSU.  483 


visitations.       "  Be    zealous    therefore/'    signifies^    tliat   indif- 
ferency  must  cease,  and  all  lukewarmness  and  conformity  to 
the  subversive  modes  of  life.     ''  Repent/'  signifies,  the  dark 
horror,   as  follows  :   Men  will  be  conscious,  by  sensation,  of 
harpies   in   the   left   side;  creatures  with  beaks  like  ravens 
which  they  strike  into  the  lower  portion  of  the  lungs  in  that 
region.     In  the  night,  they  will  feel  the  foul  birds  feeding  on 
them   during  sleep,  and  flying  into  their  secret  places  within 
the  brain   at  the  approach  of  morning.     Intermittingly  they 
will  feed  during  the  day,  causing  exquisite  torture  as  their 
beaks   seem  puncturing  the  flesh  and  blood    of  the  nervous 
essence.     The  thoughts  of  distrust  in  the  Divine  Providence, 
which  prompt  men,  even  after  they  have  nobly  entered  on  the 
new  career,  to  give  the  Lord  but  a  part  of  their  devotion,  zeal, 
and  assiduity,  working  with  the  left  hand  for  self  even  after  the 
right   seeks  to  do  His  bidding,  are  formed  into  these  harpies, 
and  they  wheel  in  dark  flights  to  lacerate  the  open  lung-fields, 
which  they  enter  through  the  nervous  essence.   So  long  as  these 
exist,  the  anguish  of  regeneration  must  at  intervals  be  fearful. 
890.   Sins  of  temper  also  cause  another  brood,  but  these  are 
white,  and  called  death  vultm-es,  because  they  prey  upon  the 
exquisite,  sensitive  substance  of  the  love-growths  which  have 
become  incorporated  into  the  love-plane.      When  God  opens 
the  eyes  of  the  man,  who  is  becoming  new,  to  gaze  into  the 
provinces  of  his  sentient  being,  connected  with  the  ultimate 
rational  degree,   the  dark  horror  in  which  these  brood  and 
dwell    rushes    out    upon    him   like    a  mephitic    cloud.      The 
demons  who  infest  that  degree  of  the  mind  behold  it  and  cry, 
alarmed,  that  their  judgment  begins  ;  but  first  they  endeavour 
to   prevent   the  opening  of  the   degree  wherein  the  horrors 
dwell.     Many  men  are  lulled  into  an  artificial  happiness,  and 
even  believe  themselves  experimentally  advanced  in  religious 
things,  who,  at  the  first  vague  sensations  of  the  foul  broods 
within  the  darkness  of  the  natural-rational  mind,  are  tempted 
to   despair.     All  who  fear  to  trust  implicitly  the  Divine  Pro- 
vidence, in  the  uses  of  a  great,  true  life,  whatever  be  their 
zeal  or  occasional  l)oldness   for  the  right  and  true,   are  fed 
upon  by  harpies  of  this  quality,  sometimes  numbering  tens  of 
thousands ;  for,  as  the  spirit,  which  is   so  vast,  exists  within 


484  ABOANA    OF    CHBISTIANITT.        [chap.  iti. 

tlie  body  wliich  is  so  limited^  thus  myriads  of  liuge  entities 
of  tlie  spirit  may  bo  boi'ii,  and  dwell  within  the  mind  in  any 
of  its  degrees. 

891.  "  Repent,"  signifies  further,  the  deep  and  most  genuine 
abasement  before  God ;  and  the  death-grapple  with  the  falsities 
in  the  natural-rational  principle,  and  the  evil  conjoined  to  it 
from  the  will ;  during  its  continuance  the  man  is  wrought  upon, 
as  never  before,  to  see  that  two  masters  cannot  be  served,  nor 
two  opposite  paths  at  the  same  time  trodden ;  that  if  he  will 
live  to  God,  he  must  die  to  the  subversive  antichrist  in  all  its 
sophistries  and  plausibilities ;  but  that  if  he  will  live  to  the 
false  antichrist,  then  he  must  die  to  God.  There  are  great 
combats  involved  at  this  point,  and  herculean  powers  are 
evolved  from  the  Lord  into  the  ultimate -rational  degree  of  the 
mind,  where  the  battle  rages.  They  are  followed,  if  the  new 
harmony  is  successful,  by  peace  for  ever ;  so  great  is  it,  that 
the  man  triumphs  when  impaled  upon  the  bayonet,  trodden 
beneath  the  hoofs  of  the  charger,  or  burned  at  the  stake  with 
slow  fire.  This  is  the  Omega  of  that  Christian  fight  whose 
Alpha  is  the  submission  of  the  spirit,  in  the  first  hour  of  the 
regeneration,  to  the  Lord.  This  is  the  passage  of  the  ship  from 
the  storm-tossed  ocean  to  the  still  and  land-locked  bay,  where 
the  glassy  waters  reflect  the  hills  of  .Paradise,  and  the  Sun  of 
righteousness  gilds  the  summits  with  everlasting  light.  There 
are  crises  during  which  the  sensations  of  agony  growing  out 
of  the  combat  are  hard  to  be  borne.  There  are  reHefs  afforded, 
during  which  the  joy  of  Heaven  is  felt  as  a  soft,  infantile  pulse, 
and  a  delicious  repose.  But  after  it,  the  terrible  strife  begins 
again,  till,  in  the  entire  redemption  of  the  natural -rational  plane, 
the  work,  which  began  in  the  quickening  of  the  highest  celestial, 
is  finished. 

Chap.  hi.  20. — "  Behold,  I  stand  at   the   door,  and  knock  : 

IP  ANY  MAN  HEAR  MY  VOICE,  AND  OPEN  THE  DOOR,  I  WILL  COME 
IN  TO  HIM,  AND  WILL  SUP  WITH  HIM,  AND  HE  WITH  ME." 

892.  "Behold,"  signifies,  seven  degrees  of  perception, 
which  are  communicated  after  the  renewal  of  the  nerve  essences. 
But  of  this  it  is  not  in  order  now  to  speak.  "  I  stand  at  the 
door,"  signifies,  our  Lord's  open  presence  as  the  Divine  Man 


SEC.  891—893.]         THE   APOCALYFSK  485 

of  Heavens  and  Universes.  ^'And  knock/^  signifies,  that 
through  open  respiration  He  impulses  His  own  divine  desire, 
to  be  admitted  into  the  home  of  the  soul  as  its  most  beloved 
friend.  "  If  any  man  hear  my  voice/'  signifies,  seven  new 
modes  by  means  of  which  His  divine  thought  is  now  audible. 
"  And  open  the  door,"  signifies,  seven  new  modes  by  which 
the  man  hears  and  feels  his  Lord^s  solicitations,  and  may  be 
in  communion  with  Him.  ''  I  will  come  in  to  him,"  signifies, 
that  the  pillar-man  is  from  time  to  time  made  an  angel  of  the 
covenant  in  the  new  creation;  that  is,  that  his  Heavenly  Father 
is  absolutely  in  him  and  through  him,  giving  forth  a  dreadful 
power  to  bind  sph-its  from  zone  to  zone  and  of  all  nations. 
"  And  will  sup  with  him,"  signifies,  that  when  the  pillar-man 
is  thus  visited,  our  Divine  Lord,  whose  joy  is  in  the  uplifting 
of  souls  to  Himself  that  He  may  indraw  them  into  the  bliss  of 
His  Divine  Presence,  translates  the  servant  to  be  with  Him  in 
the  possession  of  incommunicable  beatitudes.  It  also  signifies 
a  mode  of  journejdng,  in  which,  wrapped  away  in  the  moving 
breath  of  the  fire-pillar,  the  spirit  is  led  forth  in  celestial 
pilgrimages.  "And  he  with  me,"  signifies,  that  he  is  con- 
scious in  these  journeyings  that  he  is  in  the  Lord  and  the  Lord 
in  him,  and  that,  whithersoever  he  moves,  the  pUlar  breath  of 
the  Divine  Spirit  moves;  during  which  time  so  great  are  the 
raptures  of  respiration  that  he  seems  to  breathe  from  the  very 
kisses  of  the  Divine  mouth.  "  He  brought  me  to  the  ban- 
queting house,  and  His  banner  over  me  was  love." 

Chap,  hi.  21. — "To  him   that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to 

SIT    with     me    in    my    throne,    even   as   I    ALSO     OVERCAMBj 
AND   AM    SET   DOWN   WITH    MY   FaTHER   IN    HiS    THRONE." 

893.  "  To  him  that  overcometh,"  signifies,  the  new  man  in 
his  ascensions,  which  are  as  follows  :  He  is  caught  up  into  the 
pillar  of  the  Divine  breath,  as  to  his  spirit,  and  in  it  moves,  that 
he  may  behold  the  path  traversed  by  Messiah  God,  in  His  Infi- 
nite Glorification.  "  Will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me,"  signifies, 
that  he  successively  is  enabled  to  enjoy,  in  a  finite,  representa- 
tive manner,  the  very  joy  that  was  in  the  human  universal 
essence  of  the  Lord,  up  to  the  point  immediately  preceding  that 
in  which  full  glorification  was  consummated.    "  In  my  throne," 


48G  ABCANA   OF  CnRISTIANITT.        [chap.  hi. 


signifies  tlie  moving  liarmony  in  which  the  Divine  Humanity 
now  proceeds  to  estabhsh  the  new  creation^  in  which  are  repre- 
sentative thrones  or  pivotal  centres  of  power  and  honour  and 
glory  and  strength  and  dominion,  given  to  each  new  man  accord- 
ing to  his  degree  and  quality.  "Even  as  I  also  overcame/'  sig- 
nifies, that  the  path  traversed  to  dominion  involves  the  death  of 
the  first  natural  soul,  natural  mind,  and  in  all  its  principles  the 
natural  body,  and  also  the  death  of  the  first  nerve  essence  and 
all  the  motives  that  were  first  therein.  "  And  am  set  down  with 
my  Father,"  signifies,  that  the  universal  anima  coeli,  or  heaven- 
soul,  and  anima  miincU,  or  earth-soul,  which  our  Lord  assumed 
in  His  incarnation,  were  progressively  involved  in,  and  cauo-ht 
up  into  the  infinite  soul-germ,  through  which  He  as  the  Word 
became  flesh,  and  were  so  glorified.  It  also  signifies,  that  the 
new  celestial  body,  and  eventually,  through  the  spirits  of  its 
primates  and  its  ultimates,  the  quickened  natural  body,  in 
translation  will  ascend  into,  through,  and  beyond  the  world- 
soul  of  the  planet  into  their  representative  place  in  the  fixed 
eternity  of  the  new  divine  creation. 

Chap.  hi.  22. — "He  that  hath  an  eae,  let  him  hear  what 
THE  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Chukches.^' 
894.  In  this  verse  closes  the  beloved  disciple's  magnificent 
vision  of  the  first  new  humanity  succeeding  the  old.  "He  that 
hath  an  ear,''  signifies,  that  composite  respiration  being  given 
to  the  seven  types  of  the  new  man,  reconstituted  through 
pivotal  centres  into  a  universal  form  of  peace,  righteousness, 
and  brotherly  love ;  the  whole  as  one  will,  for  the  first  time, 
begin  to  hear  simultaneously,  with  an  absolute  precision,  the 
voice  of  the  God  of  the  whole  earth,  going  forth  in  the  har- 
monies of  light,  and  in  the  melodies  of  day.  The  night  will  be 
vocal.  Now  also  the  new  night-blooming  flowers,  that  glisten 
with  prismatic  lustre,  and  illuminate  the  landscape,  will  diver- 
sify the  carpet  of  the  world.  In  that  responsive  movement  in 
which  the  Seasons  trip  with  hymeneal  feet,  bearing  their  seven 
lamps  before  the  Bridegroom,  the  night-loving  races  will 
begin  to  appear  on  earth,  as  in  the  spaces  of  the  planet  Melo- 
dia.  (See  A.  of  C.  I.  1,  535-537.)  The  day-loving  races  of 
that  exquisite  orb  will  also  move,  responsive  to  the  breath  and 


SEC.  894.]  THE  APOCALYPSE.  487 

rapture  of  the  morning ;  and  day  and  niglit,  tkrough  liuman 
voices  of  linked  union,  worsliip  God.  "  Let  him  hear,^'  signi- 
fies, the  new  rapture  which  dwells  within  the  new  auditory 
nerve,  where  every  sound  of  the  Divine  breath  is  imparted  as 
a  joy,  and  all  love  felt  as  joy,  and  all  truth  known  in  joy,  and 
all  being  called  joy.  "  What  the  Spirit  saith,"  signifies,  the 
joy-voice  of  Deity,  of  which  man  knows  nothing  in  his  present 
state.  "  Unto  the  Chm'ches,"  signifies,  that  all  regenerate 
mankind  in  the  new  harmony  shall,  in  that  new  joy -voice,  hold 
communion  with  their  Lord  and  their  God. 

When  this  is  won,  then  all  is  won ; 

God  is  our  sea  and  shore, 
Our  air  and  firmament  and  sun, 

Our  all  for  evermore. 

Untouched  we  see  the  worlds  depart. 

The  ages  rise  and  fall  ; 
Sphered  in  the  One  Eternal  Heart 

That  formed  and  loveth  all. 


END    OP   riEST   VOLUME. 


Butler  &  Tanner,  The  Selwood  Pi-inting  Works,  Frome,  and  London. 


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SPECIAL  NOTICE. 


Owing  to  the  great  variety  of  publications,  professedly  of  a  spiritual  and  heavenly 
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NOTE. 

As  the  concluding  pages  of  this  volume  are  passing  through  the  Press,  the  writer 
is  summoned  to  America  by  the  duties  of  his  use,  and  is  finable,  therefore,  to  pre- 
pare the  index.  He  trusts  that  this,  with  the  other  volumes  of  the  series,  now  in 
maniiseript,  will  be  published  in  due  tivie. 


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